CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-221638 filed on Dec. 6, 2019. The entire disclosure of the above-identified application, including the specification, drawings and claims is incorporated herein by reference and its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a sheet handling apparatus and a sheet handling method that handle sheets.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, sheet handling apparatuses for handling sheets have been used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,599 discloses an apparatus including a stacking unit that stacks banknotes, and a storage unit that is disposed beneath the stacking unit, receives the banknotes from the stacking unit, and stores the received banknotes therein.

The stacking unit includes two members on which banknotes are stacked, and another member for pushing the banknotes stacked on these two members into the storage unit from the upper side. The two members for stacking banknotes are disposed facing each other in the horizontal direction. Each member is pivotable downward from the position at which the upper surface thereof is horizontal. Like the stacking unit, the storage unit is also provided with two members that are disposed facing each other in the horizontal direction and are pivotable downward.

Banknotes are stacked on the upper surface of the stacking unit with the two members horizontally disposed. When the other member disposed above the stacked banknotes pushes the banknotes downward, the two members on which the banknotes are stacked pivot downward. When the two members of the stacking unit pivot downward, the two members of the storage unit also pivot downward. The banknotes are pushed into the storage unit through a gap between the pivoted and members, and are stored in the storage unit.

SUMMARY

In the conventional art described above, the size of the apparatus is disadvantageously increased. For example, the stacking unit and the storage unit need to be separately provided in the apparatus. In addition, spaces for the pivotable members of the stacking unit and the pivotable members of the storage unit need to be secured in the apparatus.

The present disclosure is made in view of the problems of the conventional art. The present disclosure addresses issues, as discussed herein, with a sheet handling apparatus and a sheet handling method that realize space-saving regarding stacking and storage of sheets.

The present disclosure provides a sheet handling apparatus for storing sheets into a storage bag. The storage bag includes a frame having a gate for opening and closing an opening of the storage bag. The sheet handling apparatus includes: a mounting unit to which the frame of the storage bag is capable of being detachably mounted; a transport unit configured to transport the sheets one by one; and a storage mechanism configured to stack the sheets transported by the transport unit, in a stacking area on the frame mounted to the mounting unit. The storage mechanism is configured to push the sheets stacked in the stacking area into the storage bag through the opening of the storage bag to store these sheets in the storage bag.

