MEDIUM PROCESSING APPARATUS AND METHOD

Abstract

A medium processing apparatus which corrects the tilt of a medium is provided. The medium processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a conveyer configured to convey a medium along a conveying path, and a shutter located along the conveying path to block the conveyance of the medium. The medium processing apparatus further includes a detector configured to detect a tilt of the medium with respect to the shutter, and a shutter controller configured to control the shutter to unblock the conveyance of the medium when the detector determines that the tilt of the medium is corrected.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-049922, filed on Mar. 5, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate to a medium processing apparatus and method for conveying a medium such as a passbook.

BACKGROUND

In the related art, there is known a printer which performs printing on a medium such as a passbook. The printer includes a medium conveying mechanism, a print head and other components. The medium conveying mechanism may take in a medium inserted through an inlet and convey the medium for printing. The print head scans the medium through a print head conveying mechanism, and prints information on a predetermined print area of the medium. The medium conveying mechanism described above includes a conveying roller which conveys the medium and sensors which optically detect the presence and position of the medium.

When the medium is conveyed in a correctly adjusted position, the print head may print information on the predetermined print area of the medium correctly as described above. However, when the medium is conveyed in a skewed state, the print head may not be able to print information on the predetermined print area of the medium correctly. To adjust the skew of the medium, the related art provides an aligning technique in a printer where a side edge of the medium is moved toward a reference plane to align the side edge of the medium with the reference plane

Such aligning technique as described above may be applied to a case where the sizes of the media to be conveyed are constant. However, when a medium conveying mechanism (so called “free alignment”) for handling media having different sizes is used, media having various sizes may be conveyed in various conveying positions. In addition, even if the media has the same size, the conveying positions of the media may be shifted in each conveyance. Accordingly, when media is conveyed by such medium conveying mechanism employing a free alignment mechanism, application of an alignment technique to adjust the skew of the medium as described above may be difficult or inefficient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram which shows the constitution of a medium processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example schematic constitution of a medium conveying mechanism of the medium processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart which shows an example correction of tilt of a medium.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart which shows the relationship between the operations of driving a feed motor, detecting a medium by medium detection sensors, and detecting the medium by medium skew sensors.

FIGS. 5A to 5C show an example sequence of correcting the skew of the medium in the medium conveying mechanism of the medium processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows another example of the medium skew sensors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The medium processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a conveyer configured to convey a medium along a conveying path, and a shutter located along the conveying path to block the conveyance of the medium. The medium processing apparatus further includes a detector configured to detect the tilt of the medium with respect to the shutter, and a shutter controller configured to control the shutter to unblock the conveyance of the medium when the detector determines that the tilt of the medium is corrected

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram which shows the constitution of a medium processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. A medium processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, for example, prints various information on a print area of an information recording medium (hereinafter referred to as a “medium”) such as a passbook. Also, the medium processing apparatus 1 may read and delete data stored in a magnetic stripe (information storage area) of the medium, and writes data in the magnetic stripe.

As shown in FIG. 1, the medium processing apparatus 1 includes a main control unit 110, a medium conveying control unit 121, a medium conveying mechanism 122, a feed motor 123, a pinch roller pressure control unit 124, a pinch roller 125, a shutter opening/closing control unit 126, a shutter 127, and a medium detecting unit 131, which includes a medium detection sensor DS (used as a medium detection means) and a medium skew sensor SS (used as a medium detection means). The medium processing apparatus 1 further includes a print head movement control unit 141, a print head control unit 142, a print head conveying mechanism 143, which includes a print head 144, a sensor 145 and a carrier 146. In addition, the medium processing apparatus 1 includes a magnetic head movement control unit 151, a magnetic information processing unit 152, a magnetic head conveying mechanism 153, which includes a magnetic head 154 and a carrier 155.

FIG. 2 shows an example schematic constitution of the medium conveying mechanism 122 of the medium processing apparatus 1. A medium may be conveyed from the downstream side to the upstream side in FIG. 2 (e.g., in a “direction of conveyance of the medium” as shown in FIG. 2). As shown in FIG. 2 and other drawings, the medium detection sensors DS (DS1, DS2, DS3, DS4) are configured to detect the medium conveyed by the medium conveying mechanism 122, and are disposed at positions opposite the medium being conveyed along a medium conveying path.

As shown in FIG. 2 and other drawings, the medium skew sensors SS include medium skew sensor units SS1, SS2, SS3, SS4. Furthermore, the medium skew sensor unit SS1 includes medium skew sensors SS1a and SS1b. The medium skew sensor unit SS2 includes medium skew sensors SS2a and SS2b. The medium skew sensor unit SS3 includes medium skew sensors SS3a and SS3b. The medium skew sensor unit SS4 includes medium skew sensors SS4a and SS4b.

Detection of the medium by the medium detection sensors DS and detection of the tilt (or skew) of the medium by the medium skew sensors SS will be described later in detail.

The medium conveying mechanism 122 of the medium processing apparatus 1 employs a conveying mechanism (so called “free alignment”) configured to handle multiple types of media with different sizes. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the medium conveying mechanism 122 may convey media having varying side lengths up to a maximum possible side length Lmax. FIG. 5A shows an example of conveying a medium P having a side length La (where La<Lmax).

In the medium conveying mechanism 122, the conveying position of the medium P may be shifted horizontally (in a direction perpendicular to the direction of conveyance of the medium) for each conveyance even when conveying media with the same length of one side. This is because the length of a medium slot for inserting the medium into the medium processing apparatus 1 including the medium conveying mechanism 122 (so called “free alignment”) is configured to receive a medium having a side length of up to Lmax. For example, when the user inserts the medium P having a side length La at a position near the left end of the medium slot, the medium P is conveyed from a conveying position near the left end (the left end 161 of the conveying path). Alternatively, if the user inserts the medium P having the side length La at a position near the right end of the medium slot, the medium P is conveyed from a conveying position near the right end (the right end 162 of the conveying path).

Further, when the user inserts the medium P with one side thereof being tilted with respect to the direction of conveyance of the medium (i.e., titled with respect to the shutter 127) (when the medium P is inserted in a state that one side of the medium P is not parallel to the direction of conveyance of the medium), as shown in FIG. 5A and other drawings, the medium P is taken in and conveyed (or fed for loading) in a state so that one side of the medium P is tilted with respect to the direction of conveyance of the medium. In other words, the medium P is taken in and conveyed in a state so that one side of the medium P is not parallel to the direction of conveyance of the medium and also another side of the medium P is not perpendicular to the direction of conveyance of the medium.

In one embodiment, the medium conveying apparatus 1 may correct the tilted conveyance state of the medium P (which is inserted from an arbitrary position of the medium slot) by the shutter 127. For example, the medium conveying mechanism 122 takes in and conveys the medium P by driving the feed motor 123 and pinch roller 125, while the shutter 127 blocks the medium P (see FIG. 5B). Specifically, the shutter 127 blocks the conveyance (advance) of the medium P so that the medium P does not advance upstream. When the main control unit 110 detects the tilt of the medium P with respect to the shutter 127 based on the state of the medium detected by the medium detection sensors DS and medium skew sensors SS, the shutter opening/closing control unit 126 closes the shutter 127 to block the conveying path. At the same time, the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 controls the pressure applied to the medium P by the pinch roller 125 so that the medium P is pressed by the pinch roller 125 at a first pressure, while the medium conveying control unit 121 continues to convey the medium P by driving the feed motor 123 (see FIG. 5B). Accordingly, the medium P receives a conveying force from the medium conveying mechanism 122 in a state of being prevented from advance by the shutter 127. One side of the medium P is therefore gradually pressed against the shutter 127 (or a member of the shutter 127) to be arranged in parallel to the shutter 127, while another side of the medium P gradually becomes perpendicular to the shutter 127 (or the member of the shutter 127) (see FIG. 5C).

When the main control unit 110 detects that one side of the medium P and the shutter 127 (or the member of the shutter 127) are arranged in parallel to each other based on the state of the medium detected by the medium skew sensors SS (i.e., when the main control unit 110 detects that correction of the tilt of the medium P is completed), the shutter opening/closing control unit 126 opens the shutter 127 to unblock the conveying path. Further, the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 controls the pressure of the pinch roller 125 applied to the medium P so that the medium P is pressed by the pinch roller 125 at a second pressure which is higher than or equal to the first pressure. Furthermore, if necessary, the medium conveying control unit 121 controls the feed motor 123 to convey the medium P further upstream.

Alternatively, even when the main control unit 110 detects that one side of the medium P and the shutter 127 (the member of the shutter 127) are arranged in parallel to each other based on the state of the medium detected by the medium skew sensors SS (i.e., when the main control unit 110 detects that correction of the tilt of the medium P is completed), the shutter opening/closing control unit 126 may maintain the shutter 127 to be closed. Further, the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 keeps controlling the pressure applied to the medium P by the pinch roller 125 so that the medium P is pressed by the pinch roller 125 at the first pressure, and conveys the medium by driving the feed motor 123 (e.g., driving a stepping motor in a predetermined number of steps). In this way, the medium P is pressed against the shutter 127. The shutter opening/closing control unit 126 then opens the shutter 127 to unblock the conveying path, while the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 controls the pressure of the pinch roller 125 applied to the medium P so that the medium P is pressed by the pinch roller 125 at the second pressure which is higher or equal than the first pressure. Furthermore, if necessary, the medium conveying control unit 121 controls the feed motor 123 to convey the medium P further upstream. In this manner, the actual conveyance of the medium P may resume after correcting the tilt of the medium P more securely.

Correction of the tilt of the medium P will be described below in more detail.

First, an example of the relationship between the application of pressure by the pinch roller 125 and the opening and closing of the shutter 127 will be described.

When the shutter 127 is closed to block the conveying path (when the conveyance of the medium P is suspended on the conveying path), the pinch roller 125 presses the medium Pat the first pressure. This state is referred to as a “weak HOLD state.” In particular, when the shutter opening/closing control unit 126 closes the shutter 127, the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 controls the pressure applied to the medium P by the pinch roller 125 to be adjusted to the first pressure so that the pinch roller 125 is operated in the weak HOLD state.

When the shutter 127 opens to unlock the conveying path (when the medium P advances along the conveying path without being suspended thereon), the pinch roller 125 presses the medium P at the second pressure which is higher than the first pressure. This state is referred to as a “strong HOLD state.” In particular, when the shutter opening/closing control unit 126 opens the shutter 127, the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 controls the pressure applied to the medium P by the pinch roller 125 to be adjusted as the second pressure so that the pinch roller 125 is operated in the high HOLD state.

Next, an example of the arrangement of a plurality of medium detection sensors DS and a plurality of medium skew sensors SS will be described.

The plurality of medium detection sensors DS are arranged so that at least one of the plurality of medium detection sensors DS detects the medium inserted to the medium conveying mechanism 122. As described above, the medium conveying mechanism 122 employs the free alignment mechanism, which may be used to convey media of various sizes. Therefore, whatever the size of a medium inserted into the medium conveying mechanism 122 is, as long as the size of the medium is compatible with the medium conveying mechanism 122, at least one of the plurality of medium detection sensors DS needs to detect the medium P. For example, even if the medium P having the minimum size compatible with the medium conveying mechanism 122 is inserted in a tilted state, the medium detection sensors DS are arranged at intervals shorter than the length of one side of the medium P having the minimum size so that at least one of the medium detection sensors DS detects the medium P having the minimum size.

As described above, the medium skew sensor unit SS1 includes the medium skew sensors SS1a and SS1b. When the medium skew sensor SS1a or SS1b detects the medium P, the medium skew sensor unit SS1 outputs the presence of the medium. The medium skew sensor units SS2, SS3, SS4 operate in a similar manner.

FIGS. 2 and 5 illustrate one example arrangement of the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b. FIG. 6 illustrates another example arrangement of the medium skew sensors.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b may be disposed along a straight line perpendicular to the direction of conveyance of the medium. Alternatively, the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b may be disposed in parallel to the shutter 127 (or the member of the shutter 127). In this embodiment, disposing the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b on the straight line described above may refer to the same arrangement as disposing them in parallel to the shutter 127.

In one embodiment, the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b are arranged so that at least two sensors of the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b detect the medium P (having the minimum size compatible with the medium conveying mechanism) in a state that one side of the medium P 122 is pressed against the shutter 127 (or the member of the shutter 127), that is, in a state that one side of the medium P is arranged in parallel to the shutter 127. For example, the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b are arranged at intervals shorter than the length of one side of the medium P having the minimum size.

The medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b and the shutter 127 are arranged so that the respective distances between the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b and one side of the shutter 127 (or the member of the shutter 127) on the downstream side is approximately 0 mm (for example, 1.0 mm at the maximum). In this configuration, when the medium P is tilted with respect to the shutter 127, the medium P may not be detected by two or more sensors of the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b.

Accordingly, if at least one sensor of the medium detection sensors DS1, DS2, DS3, DS4 detects the medium P while none of the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b detects the medium P, the main control unit 110 may determine that the medium P is tilted or skewed.

The main control unit 110 may also determine that the medium P is tilted when at least one sensor of the medium detection sensors DS1, DS2, DS3, DS4 detects the medium P and only one of the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b detects the medium P.

When at least one sensor of the medium detection sensors DS1, DS2, DS3, DS4 detects the medium P and two or more sensors of the medium skew sensors SS1a, SS1b, SS2a, SS2b, SS3a, SS3b, SS4a, SS4b detect the medium P, the main control unit 110 may determine that the position of the medium P has been correctly adjusted (i.e., correction of the tilt is completed).

In the following, with reference to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, correction of the tilt of the medium P will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart which shows an example of correcting of the tilt of the medium P. FIG. 4 is a timing chart which shows the relationship between the drive of the feed motor, detection of the medium by the medium detection sensors DS, and detection of the medium by the medium skew sensors SS.

For example, in a state that none of the plurality of the medium detection sensors DS detects the medium P, the shutter 127 is closed. As shown in FIG. 3, when the user inserts the medium P into the medium slot, at least one of the plurality of medium detection sensors DS may detect the medium P (Act A1). For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the medium detection sensor DS1 detects the medium P.

The main control unit 110 is notified of the detection of the medium P by the medium detection sensors DS. The main control unit 110 sends instructions to receive the medium P based on the detection of the medium P. The medium conveying control unit 121 instructs the feed motor 123 (e.g., a stepping motor) to rotate a predetermined number of steps in the forward direction based on the instruction to receive the medium P. As such, the feed motor 123 starts to rotate (Act A2). In addition, the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 controls the pressure of the pinch roller 125 applied to the medium P based on the instruction to receive the medium P so that the medium P is pressed by the pinch roller 125 at the first pressure. Accordingly, the medium P inserted into the medium slot is drawn from the downstream side to the upstream side of the conveying path in the weak HOLD state. As the medium P is drawn in, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the medium detection sensor DS2 also detects the medium P. In addition, the medium P is pressed against the shutter 127 (Act A2).

At this time, if the main control unit 110 detects the tilted state of the medium P based on a medium detection signal from the medium detection sensors DS and medium skew sensors SS (Act A3, NO), the medium conveying control unit 121 further instructs the feed motor 123 to rotate a predetermined number of steps in the forward direction. As such, the feed motor 123 continues to rotate (hereinafter referred to as a first “retry”). Accordingly, the medium P is further pressed against the shutter 127 in the weak HOLD state (Act A2).

In this embodiment, for example, three retries are performed. If the tilt of the medium P is still detected even after three retries (Act A4, YES), the process proceeds to an error eject process (Act A5). In this process, the medium processing apparatus 1 discharges the medium P without further receiving the medium P, and signals an error. Alternatively, the medium process apparatus 1 may be programmed so that the following process is performed with the medium although the tilt of the medium P is still detected even after three retries, assuming that the tilt has been at least partly corrected by performing three retries.

When the main control unit 110 detects that the position of the medium P has been correctly adjusted (correction of the tilt is completed) by performing the first, second and third retries, the main control unit 110 sends instructions to stop taking in and conveying (or loading feed) the medium P (Act A6).

Alternatively, in order to correct the tilt of the medium P more securely, after the main control unit 110 detects that the position of the medium P has been correctly adjusted (correction of the tilt is completed) by performing the first, second and third retries, the main control unit 110 instructs the feed motor 123 to rotate in n steps (where n is an integer) in the forward direction. After the medium P is pressed against the shutter 127 in the weak HOLD state, the main control unit 110 sends instructions to stop receiving the medium P (Act A6).

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, if the medium is detected by the medium skew sensor SS1a and the medium skew sensor SS1b, the main control unit 110 detects that the position of the medium P has been correctly adjusted (correction of the tilt is completed) based on the detection of the medium by the medium skew sensor SSla and the medium skew sensor SS1b. Thereafter, the feed motor 123 further rotates in n steps, and the main control unit 110 sends instructions to stop receiving the medium P (Act A6) after the medium P is pressed against the shutter 127 in the weak HOLD state.

For example, when the distance between the medium skew sensors SS and one side of the shutter 127 (the member of the shutter 127) on the upstream side is set to be 0.5 mm, the medium conveying control unit 121 instructs the feed motor 123 to rotate in a number of steps required to convey the medium P by at least 0.5 mm or more. Also, the feed motor 123 rotates in response to the instruction from the medium conveying control unit 121. The main control unit 110 checks a medium detection signal from the medium detection sensors DS and medium skew sensors SS at a time when this rotation is completed and detects the presence or absence of a tilt in the medium P.

In response to the instruction to stop receiving the medium P, the medium conveying control unit 121 instructs the feed motor 123 to stop rotating. Furthermore, the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 controls the pressure applied to the medium P by the pinch roller 125 to the second pressure, and controls the pinch roller 125 to the strong HOLD state. Furthermore, the shutter opening/closing control unit 126 opens the shutter 127 (Act A7).

In the following discussion, an example of the timing of each operation will be described. For example, after the rotation of the feed motor 123 stops, the shutter opening/closing control unit 126 controls the shutter 127 to open. An attempt to open the shutter 127 (before the rotation of the feed motor 123 is completely stopped) may tilt the medium P pressed against the shutter 127 by the movement of the shutter 127. The shutter opening/closing control unit 126 controls the shutter 127 to open at the above timing, such that the medium P may be prevented from being tilted by the movement of the shutter 127.

Alternatively, before the shutter 127 opens (before it starts to move), the pinch roller pressure control unit 124 controls the pressure applied to the medium P by the pinch roller 125 to the second pressure, and controls the pinch roller 125 to the strong HOLD state. Accordingly, the medium P is securely held and may be prevented from being tilted by the movement of the shutter 127.

As described above, after the main control unit 110 detects that the position of the medium P has been adjusted (correction of the tilt is completed), for example, detection of the width of the medium P is performed (Act A8). Accordingly, since correction of the tilt of the medium P is completed, the width of the medium P may be detected correctly.

For example, the carrier 146 moves by driving a stepping motor, and the print head movement control unit 141 controls the drive of the stepping motor. In response to the control of the movement of the carrier 146 by the print head movement control unit 141, the print head 144 and sensor 145 provided on the carrier 146 move in the direction perpendicular to the direction of conveyance of the medium P. That is, the print head 144 and sensor 145 provided on the carrier 146 may reciprocate in the direction perpendicular to the direction of conveyance of the medium P, and the print head 144 scans the medium P by this reciprocating motion.

The carrier 146 having the print head 144 and sensor 145 provided thereon starts scanning from a home position located at the left end 161 side of the conveying path toward the right end 162 of the conveying path. The sensor 145 detects the position of the left end of the medium P, and detects the position of the right end of the medium P successively. In addition, the print head movement control unit 141 controls the drive of the stepping motor. Also, the main control unit 110 may calculate a left end position information PL based on the stepping motor drive control information (e.g., number of steps or the amount of movement of the carrier 146) from the print head movement control unit 141 and the detection of the position of the left end by the sensor 145. Further, the main control unit 110 may calculate a right end position information PR based on the stepping motor drive control information (e.g., number of steps or the amount of movement of the carrier 146) from the print head movement control unit 141 and the detection of the position of the right end by the sensor 145.

The main control unit 110 may detect the conveying position of the medium P (the position on the medium conveying mechanism 122) based on the left end position information PL and the right end position information PR. Further, the main control unit 110 may detect a medium width PW based on the left end position information PL and the right end position information PR of the medium P (where the medium width PW=the left end position information PL—the right end position information PR).

When the detection of the medium width is completed, the medium conveying control unit 121 instructs the medium conveying mechanism 122 to convey, and the medium conveying mechanism 122 further conveys the medium, for example, to a TOF (top of form) position (Act A9).

In the above embodiment, the medium processing apparatus 1 employs the conveying mechanism (using so called “free-alignment”) which can efficiently correct a tilt of a print medium P either when the medium P is incorrectly positioned on the conveying path or when different sizes of media are to be conveyed. For example, instead if correcting a tile of the medium P by aligning either a right or left side of the medium with the same side of the conveying path, the medium processing apparatus 1 according to the above embodiment can correct the tilt of the medium P in a simpler manner. Further, the medium processing apparatus 1 may perform the correction of the tilt of the medium using sensors with simple structures, which allows the apparatus to be implemented in a cost-effective manner.

As used in this application entities for executing the actions can refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, an entity for executing an action can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on an apparatus and the apparatus can be an entity. One or more entities can reside within a process and/or thread of execution and an entity can be localized on one apparatus and/or distributed between two or more apparatus.

The program for realizing the functions can be recorded in the apparatus, can be downloaded through a network to the apparatus and can be installed in the apparatus from a computer readable storage medium storing the program therein. A form of the computer readable storage medium can be any form as long as the computer readable storage medium can store programs and is readable by the apparatus such as a disk type ROM and a Solid-state computer storage media. The functions obtained by installation or download in advance in this way can be realized in cooperation with an OS(Operating System) or the like in the apparatus.

While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel devices described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.

Claims

1. A medium processing apparatus comprising:

a conveyer configured to convey a medium along a conveying path;

a shutter located along the conveying path to block the conveyance of the medium;

a detector configured to detect a tilt of the medium with respect to the shutter; and

a shutter controller configured to control the shutter to unblock the conveyance of the medium when the detector determines that the tilt of the medium is corrected.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shutter blocks the advance of the medium in a state that a conveying force is applied to the medium by the conveyer.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shutter is provided perpendicular to the direction of conveyance by the conveyer.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises two or more sensors configured to detect that one side of the medium is arranged substantially parallel to the shutter.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the two or more sensors are arranged at intervals shorter than the length of the one side of the medium.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the conveyer is further configured to convey multiple types of media with different sizes, and the two or more sensors are arranged at intervals shorter than the length of the shortest side of the multiple types of media.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the conveyer is further configured to convey the medium having the maximum size of the multiple types of media and convey the medium in a conveying position corresponding to a position where the medium is inserted, and the two or more sensors are arranged at intervals shorter than the length of the shortest side of the multiple types of the media.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveyer comprises:

a pinch roller configured to apply pressure to the medium and conveys the medium; and

a pinch roller pressure control unit configured to control the pressure applied to the medium by the pinch roller to be adjusted at a first pressure when conveyance of the medium is blocked by the shutter, and configured to control the pressure applied by the pinch roller to the medium to be adjusted to a second pressure when the conveyance of the medium by the shutter is unblocked, the second pressure being higher than or equal to the first pressure.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveyer conveys the medium, which is blocked from advancing by the shutter, by a predetermined distance after it is determined based on the detection result of the tilt of the medium that the correction of the tilt of the medium is completed, and the shutter controller unblocks the conveyance of the medium by the shutter after the conveyer conveys the medium by the predetermined distance.

10. A medium processing apparatus, comprising:

a conveyer configured to convey a medium along a conveying path;

a shutter located along the conveying path to block the advance of the medium;

a detector configured to detect whether one side of the medium is substantially parallel to the shutter;

a control unit configured to detect a tilt of the medium with respect to the shutter based on the state of the medium detected by the detector and configured to configured to control the conveyer to perform the conveyance of the medium when the tilt of the medium is detected by the detector; and

a shutter controller configured to control the shutter to unblock the advance of the medium when one side of the medium is determined to be adjusted in substantially parallel to the shutter.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the conveyer comprises a pinch roller configured to apply a pressure and a conveying force to the medium when conveying the medium.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising: a pinch roller pressure control unit configured to control the pressure applied to the medium by the pinch roller to be adjusted at a first pressure when the advance of the medium is blocked by the shutter, and configured to control the pressure applied by the pinch roller to the medium to be adjusted at a second pressure, which is higher than or equal to the first pressure, when the advance of the medium by the shutter is unblocked.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the conveying force is applied to the medium when the advance of the medium is blocked by the shutter.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the control unit controls the conveyer to further convey the medium by a predetermined distance when the medium is determined to be adjusted substantially parallel to the shutter before opening the shutter.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the detector comprises a plurality of sensors configured to detect whether one side of the medium is substantially parallel to the shutter.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the plurality of sensors are arranged so that at least two sensors of the plurality of sensors detect the medium when the one side of the medium is arranged substantially parallel to the shutter.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the conveyer is further configured to convey multiple types of media with different sizes, and the plurality of sensors are arranged at intervals shorter than the length of the shortest side of the multiple types of media.

18. A medium processing method for driving a medium processing apparatus comprising

a conveyer configured to convey a medium, and a shutter configured to block the advance of the medium, the method comprising;

detecting through a detector an insertion of the medium to the medium processing apparatus;

performing through the conveyer a loading feed of the medium by conveying the medium a predetermined distance;

detecting through the detector a tilt of the medium with respect to the shutter by determining whether one side of the medium is substantially parallel to the shutter;

retrying the loading feed of the medium when the tilt of the medium is detected by the detector; and

opening the shutter to unblock the advance of the medium when one side of the medium is determined to be arranged substantially parallel to the shutter.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the loading feed of the medium is performed in a state that a conveying force is applied to the medium by the conveyer.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the loading feed of the medium is performed by the conveyer while applying a first pressure to the medium, and the advance of the medium after opening the shutter is performed by the conveyer while applying a second pressure, which is higher than or equal to the first pressure, to the medium.