Document conveyor

Abstract

A document transporter is provided which has a conveyor 3 comprising a frictional carrier 4 rotatably mounted in a passageway 2, a drive device 5 for driving frictional carrier 4 and a weighting device 7 for pressing a bill 1 within passageway 2 against frictional carrier 4. Bill 1 can move within a two-directional plane containing a contact point with a ball 6 of weighting device 7 to release reactive force accumulated in bill 1 so that bill 1 moves to come into alignment with a longitudinal central axis of passageway 2 for automatic centering. [Representative Drawing] FIG. 1

1 . A document transporter comprising a passageway and a conveyor for transporting a document along the passageway,
 wherein the conveyor comprises a frictional carrier rotatably mounted in the passageway, a drive device for driving the frictional carrier and a weighting device for urging the document against the frictional carrier,   the weighting device comprises a holder adjacent to the passageway, and a sphere rotatably maintained in the holder to be in contact to the frictional carrier to grip the document between the sphere and frictional carrier.   
     
     
         2 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the holder comprises a vertically formed cylindrical hole, an inner bearing surface formed into a partially spherical shape in the cylindrical hole and an opening for communicating the inner surface with the passageway,
 a bottom portion of the sphere in the holder projects into the passageway through the opening of the holder.   
     
     
         3 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the document is transported along the passageway while the document is gripped between the frictional carrier and sphere. 
     
     
         4 . The document transporter of  claim 2 , wherein the sphere is freely rotatable or spherically movable on the inner bearing surface to allow the document to move in any planar radial direction of 360 angular degrees from a contact point of the sphere on the document. 
     
     
         5 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the sphere is vertically movable toward and away from the frictional carrier or document. 
     
     
         6 . The document transporter of  claim 2 , wherein the sphere is rotatable or spherically movable within the inner bearing surface of the holder depending on the document moving in any planar radial direction within the passageway. 
     
     
         7 . The document transporter of  claim 2 , wherein the sphere produces a pressing force on the document against the frictional carrier,
 the pressing force by the sphere is unchanged even if the sphere rotates or spherically moves within the inner bearing surface of the holder to press the document against the frictional carrier at a constant pressure even though any spherical outer surface of the sphere is in contact to the document.   
     
     
         8 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the sphere freely rotates or spherically move depending on movement of the document,
 a frictional force of the sphere on the document is smaller than that of the frictional carrier on the document.   
     
     
         9 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the sphere is in a spherical contact to the document. 
     
     
         10 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the sphere is in contact to the document by its own gravity or by a resilient force of an elastic material. 
     
     
         11 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the friction carrier is disposed in a chamber formed in a bottom wall of the passageway, and
 the sphere is disposed in the holder formed in a top wall of the passageway.   
     
     
         12 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the frictional carrier is rotatably mounted in a chamber formed in a top wall of the passageway, and
 the sphere is disposed in the holder formed in a bottom wall of the passageway to elastically urge the sphere toward the frictional carrier by a spring.   
     
     
         13 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein the frictional carrier comprises a conveyor belt or a roller. 
     
     
         14 . The document transporter of  claim 1 , wherein at least one pair of guide rollers are rotatably attached to side walls of the passageway to cause either side edge of the document to come into contact the guide rollers when the document is inserted into the passageway with the deviated central axis of the document from a longitudinal central axis of the passageway. 
     
     
         15 . The document transporter of  claim 14 , wherein the side walls comprise inwardly tapered surfaces to form an inlet in the passageway. 
     
     
         16 - 17 . (canceled)