Device for maintaining tension of media transport belt, automatic teller machine, and tension maintaining apparatus thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12540037-B2
Application number	US-202318490200-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2023
Priority date	Oct 28, 2022
Publication date	Feb 3, 2026
Grant date	Feb 3, 2026

Abstract

According to an embodiment of a tension maintaining device of a media transport belt, a device for maintaining tension of a belt to ensure a gripping force of the belt for gripping and transporting bundled media, in which a plurality of pieces of media are stacked, includes a rotation shaft; a link member coupled to the rotation shaft while having a predetermined length in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the belt, and provided to be rotatable about the rotation shaft in response to a change in the number of pieces of the bundled media in contact with the belt; a first roller rotatably coupled to a first roller shaft provided at one end of the link member and maintained in contact with the belt; and a second roller rotatably coupled to a second roller shaft provided at the other end of the link member and maintained in contact with the belt.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A device for maintaining tension of a belt to ensure a gripping force of the belt for gripping and transporting bundled media in which a plurality of pieces of media are stacked, the device comprising:
a rotation shaft; a link member coupled to the rotation shaft while having a predetermined length in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the belt, and provided to be rotatable about the rotation shaft in response to a change in the number of pieces of the bundled media in contact with the belt; a first roller rotatably coupled to a first roller shaft provided at one end of the link member and maintained in contact with the belt; and a second roller rotatably coupled to a second roller shaft provided at the other end of the link member and maintained in contact with the belt.

2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the rotation shaft is provided in a fixed position, and the first roller and the second roller are provided to be maintained in contact with the belt while applying predetermined tension to a side surface opposite one side surface of the belt in which the bundled media are gripped.

3 . The device of claim 2 , wherein, when the number of pieces of media stacked on a side where the first roller is positioned differs from the number of pieces of media stacked on a side where the second roller is positioned, the link member is tilted to one side due to a seesaw action while the first roller and the second roller are moved in a direction of a force acting by deformation of the belt due to a thickness of the stacked media.

4 . The device of claim 3 , wherein the belt includes a first transport belt provided at an upper portion of the bundled media to be in contact with an upper surface of the bundled media, and a second transport belt provided at a lower portion of the bundled media to be in contact with a lower surface of the bundled media,
the first roller and the second roller are provided to be maintained in contact with the first transport belt, and the second transport belt is moved vertically in response to an increase or decrease in the number of pieces of the stacked media.

5 . The device of claim 4 , wherein, when the number of pieces of media stacked under the first roller and the number of pieces of media stacked under the second roller are different, one of the first roller and the second roller positioned on a side on which the number of pieces of the stacked media is relatively larger is moved in a direction in which the first transport belt rises to prevent tension overload, and
the other of the first roller and the second roller positioned on a side on which the number of pieces of the stacked media is relatively smaller is moved in a direction in which the first transport belt is lowered to compensate for tension lost due to downward movement of the second transport belt.

6 . The device of claim 4 , wherein, even when the number of pieces of media stacked under the first roller and the number of pieces of media stacked under the second roller are the same, the first roller and the second roller are provided in contact with the first transport belt while applying predetermined tension to the first transport belt.

7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein a tension maintaining device of the media transport belt is provided on a transport belt where rejected media are stacked in a media deposit machine.

8 . A tension maintaining device of an automatic teller machine, which is arranged to support a transport belt of a bundle reception unit, into which bundled media are input, and provides uniform tension on the media on the transport belt, the tension maintaining device comprising:
a link member; a ling rotation shaft rotatably connected to the bundle reception unit at an eccentric position with respect to the longitudinal direction of the link member; a first link roller disposed on one end of the link member to support one side surface of the transport belt; and a second link roller disposed on the other end of the link member to support the other side surface of the transport belt, wherein, when the media are transported by the transport belt, the first link roller and the second link roller are lifted and lowered in different vertical directions to provide uniform tension to the transport belt.

9 . The tension maintaining device of claim 8 , wherein a first separation distance between the first link roller and the link rotation shaft is greater than a second separation distance between the second link roller and the link rotation shaft.

10 . The tension maintaining device of claim 8 , wherein the link member is disposed at a center in the longitudinal direction of the transport belt, and the link rotation shaft is disposed between a center of gravity of the link member and an end of the link member.

11 . The tension maintaining device of claim 10 , wherein the link rotation shaft is movable between the center of gravity of the link member and the end of the link member.

12 . The tension maintaining device of claim 11 , wherein, when a difference value between a stack amount of the media positioned at a side of the first link roller and a stack amount of the media positioned at a side of the second link roller is greater than a predetermined reference value, the link rotation shaft is positioned at a point closer to the end of the link member.

13 . An automatic teller machine comprising:
a bundle reception unit configured to receive bundled media; a discrimination unit configured to discriminate the media received in the bundle reception unit; and a control unit configured to control the bundle reception unit and the discrimination unit, wherein the bundle reception unit includes: the tension maintaining device of claim 8 ; a first bundle conveyance unit in which the tension maintaining device is disposed; and a second bundle conveyance unit disposed to be spaced apart from the first bundle conveyance unit in a downward direction.

14 . The automatic teller machine of claim 13 , wherein the bundle reception unit further includes a leg belt disposed parallel with the first bundle conveyance unit to be linked with the first bundle conveyance unit.

15 . The automatic teller machine of claim 14 , wherein the leg belt includes:
a belt portion; and a leg portion protruding from an outer surface of the belt portion and provided as a plurality of leg portions disposed to be spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the belt portion.

Assignees

• Hyosung Tns Inc

Inventors

• Woo Hyun Sik
• Kim Dongkyung

Classifications

• B65H2701/1912

  Banknotes, bills and cheques or the like · CPC title

• B65H2404/255

  Arrangement for tensioning · CPC title

• G07F19/203

  Dispensing operations within ATMs (dispensing in general G07D11/00) · CPC title

• G07D11/16 Primary

  Handling of valuable papers (within containers G07D11/13) · CPC title

• B65H5/025

  between belts and rotary means, e.g. rollers, drums, cylinders or balls, forming a transport nip · CPC title