JP2009093493A - Coin diameter detecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coin diameter detecting apparatus having simple structure and requiring no line sensor. <P>SOLUTION: The coin diameter detecting apparatus is provided with: a light irradiation means which is arranged under a coin conveyance path surface and irradiates a coin conveyed through a light transmission part formed on the coin conveyance path surface with light; a light receiving means which is arranged over the coin conveyance path surface and receives light which is not shielded by the conveyed coin out of light passing through the light transmission part; and a control part for determining a diameter of the coin based on relationship between a maximum light receiving quantity when the coin does not pass and a minimum light receiving quantity when the coin passes through the light transmission part. The light transmission part is provided with notches formed on both sides from both side ends of the coin conveyance path surface to the inside at a prescribed angle from the width direction of the coin conveyance path surface, the light irradiation means is constituted of parabolic mirrors and light sources arranged on focal points of the parabolic mirrors and irradiates the light transmission part with parallel light, and the light receiving means is constituted of parabolic mirrors and light receiving sensors arranged on the focal points of respective parabolic mirrors and receives light by converging parallel light passing through the light transmission part into the focal points of respective parabolic mirrors. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a coin diameter detection device that detects the diameter of a coin, and more particularly to a coin diameter detection device that does not require a conventional line sensor and uses a light source with a simple structure.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method for discriminating the diameter of a coin in a coin processing machine or the like, for example, a circular object diameter discriminating method shown in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. This is because a light source is disposed below the passage, a pair of image sensors are disposed at the top, and a shadow of light from the light source blocked by the coins conveyed through the passage is imaged on the image sensor, thereby forming a diameter of the coin. Is supposed to measure. In the case of this method, since the unevenness of the light source becomes noise with respect to the data of the image sensor, the light from the light source needs to be parallel light. Therefore, a method of providing a light source in the vicinity of the focal point of the convex lens is taken.

  However, when the light source is provided in the vicinity of the focal point of the convex lens, there is a drawback that the structure becomes large because the diameter of the convex lens increases.

  Further, as shown in Patent Document 2, a slit longer than the maximum diameter of the coin is provided in the direction perpendicular to the coin conveyance direction, and the slit is covered with, for example, ground glass forming a part of the conveyance path. Things are known.

  A light source in which a plurality of independent light emitting diodes (LEDs) are arranged is provided below the conveyance path facing the slit, and a rod-shaped lens is disposed above the conveyance path facing the slit. A CCD type line sensor as a photoelectric conversion element is provided. Here, the line sensor is used for optically measuring the diameter of the coin. That is, with such a configuration, light from the light source passes through the slit and is scattered by the ground glass to be uniform. And the part of a coin is light-shielded, and the shadow of a coin is tied to the light-receiving surface of a line sensor with a rod-shaped lens.

  However, there has been a problem that the glass surface becomes dirty due to seizure caused by the movement of the coin on the glass surface, and the detection accuracy of the diameter of the coin is deteriorated. In addition, a plurality of LEDs are provided, and a line sensor for detecting the LEDs is also required, which has a disadvantage of increasing the cost.

JP 58-144704 A JP-A-4-296608

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and makes parallel light by using a light source with a cheap and simple structure, and further concentrates and receives light transmitted through a slit of a coin conveyance path. An object of the present invention is to provide a coin diameter detection device that does not require a line sensor and that can stably detect the coin diameter.

The present invention relates to a coin diameter detection device that does not require a line sensor, and the object of the present invention is to provide a coin transport path including a pair of coin transport guides and a coin transport path surface on which coins are transported one by one, and the coin A light irradiating means for irradiating light to the conveyed coins through a light passage provided on the coin transportation path and disposed above the coin transportation road; and Of the light that has passed, the light receiving means that receives light that has not been shielded by the conveyed coin, the maximum amount of light received when the coin does not pass, and the coin passes through the light passage part and receives light. In the coin diameter detection device comprising a control unit that determines the diameter of the coin based on the relationship with the minimum amount of light received when the part is shielded,
The light passage portion is provided on both sides from the coin conveyance guide side to the inside, with a parallel or predetermined angle with respect to the width direction of the coin conveyance road surface,
The light irradiating means is composed of one or two parabolic mirrors and a light source arranged at the focal point of each parabolic mirror, and irradiates the light passage part with parallel light,
The light receiving means is composed of two parabolic mirrors and a light receiving sensor arranged at the focal point of each parabolic mirror, and the parallel light that has passed through the light passage part is focused on each parabolic mirror. This is achieved by collecting and receiving light.

  The above-mentioned object of the present invention can be similarly achieved by disposing the light irradiating means above the coin conveyance path surface and disposing the light receiving means below the coin conveyance path surface.

  Moreover, the said objective of this invention is effectively achieved by forming the said light passage part by a notch from the edge part of the said coin conveyance path by predetermined width | variety.

  Furthermore, the object of the present invention is to provide the light irradiating means and the light receiving means so that the parallel light is incident on the light passage section at a predetermined angle with respect to the coin conveying path surface or perpendicular to the conveying direction. Is more effectively achieved by arranging

  According to the coin diameter detecting apparatus according to the present invention, since parallel light is used, there is no limitation on the distance between the light irradiating means and the light receiving means, and the light source / light receiving sensor requiring electrical wiring is provided. Can be placed at a convenient location in design. In addition, since the light passing portions through which the parallel light passes are provided on both the left and right sides in the width direction of the coin transporting road surface, the reliability of coin diameter detection is improved without the coins being aligned.

  Further, since the parallel light is generated by the light source and the parabolic mirror, a convex lens is not required, and the light passing through the light passing portion is collected and received at one point by the parabolic mirror. Since the diameter is determined, an image sensor such as a CCD line sensor is not necessary and can be manufactured at low cost.

  Furthermore, since the light passage portion is provided by a notch and is not covered with a glass plate or the like, the glass surface becomes dirty due to seizure caused by movement of the coin on the glass surface, and the accuracy of detecting the diameter of the coin is deteriorated. This is no longer the case.

  The coin diameter detecting device according to the present invention has a predetermined width (a parallel width or a conveying direction of the conveying path surface) from both sides with a predetermined angle (for example, about 0 ° to 45 °) with respect to the width direction or the width direction of the coin conveying path surface. A notch (light passage part) with a width that gradually becomes narrower toward the center is provided, and parallel light is allowed to pass through the notch part. The coin diameter is determined.

  In order to allow parallel light to pass through the coin transport path, a light source (a lamp with a certain size or a point light source such as a light emitting diode) may be placed below the coin transport path and parallel to the transport direction at right angles. A parabolic mirror is disposed near the lower portion of the notch so as to generate light. A pair of a light source and a parabolic mirror may be provided, or two pairs may be provided in accordance with the notches.

  The coin diameter is detected by arranging the parallel light when coins on the coin transport road surface pass through the notch and aligning the two parabolic mirrors with the notch, and collecting the light with the parabolic mirror. Is received by a light receiving sensor (a photoelectric conversion element that converts light into an electrical signal), and the control unit calculates the coin diameter based on the total attenuation.

  In order to eliminate the influence of the falling of dust on the lower parabolic mirror, the lower paraboloid surface is used because the transparent covering member such as plate glass is not arranged in the notch on the coin conveyance path surface. The mirror is preferably arranged obliquely below the notch. Further, the parabolic mirror does not require wiring, and the light source and the light receiving sensor that require wiring can be appropriately disposed at a convenient place for wiring. By doing in this way, the above effects can be expected.

  Hereinafter, it demonstrates concretely, referring drawings. FIG. 1 is a view of a coin diameter detection device according to the present invention as viewed from above a coin conveyance path 1. In FIG. 1A, a coin conveyance guide 1a serves to guide a coin conveyance path 1b so that it does not protrude from the conveyance path when the coin 2 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow. Two light passing portions 3 are linearly provided by notches from the left and right coin transport guide 1a side toward the inner side in the width direction of the coin transport road surface 1b. The light passing part 3 is irradiated with parallel light from a light irradiation means (not shown) provided below the coin transport path surface 1b, and the parallel light that has passed through the light passing part 3 is above the coin transport path 1b. The amount of received light is measured by a provided light receiving means (not shown). The amount of received light is maximized when the coin 2 does not pass through the light passage portion 3, and the amount of received light is minimized when the diameter of the coin 2 overlaps the center line XX of the light passage portion 3. Therefore, the diameter of the coin can be detected by taking a ratio between the minimum received light amount and the maximum received light amount. This is because the amount of light passing through the light passing portion 3 varies depending on the diameter of the coin.

  Further, the two light passing portions 3 are provided in the width direction of the coin conveyance road surface 1b because the coins are separated (the outer periphery of the coin is conveyed while being in contact with one of the guide rails). This is to prevent the detection accuracy of the coin diameter from deteriorating.

  Note that the length L of the left and right light passage portions 3 is such that even when the smallest diameter perforated coin (50-yen coin) is in a justified state, the light that has passed through the light passing portion 3 on the justified side is The length is set so as not to pass through the hole of the coin, and the length is set such that a part of the light that has passed through the light passing portion 3 on the side opposite to the one-sided side can be shielded by the coin. Yes.

FIG. 1 (B) shows a case where the light passage portion 3 is disposed at a predetermined angle θ _{1 with} respect to the width direction of the coin conveyance road surface 1b.

  Further, FIG. 1 (C) shows the shape of the light passage portion 3 in FIG. 1 (A) such that the width gradually decreases toward the inner side in the width direction of the coin conveyance path surface 1b (trapezoidal shape or tapered shape). It is a thing. As a result, the following effects can be obtained.

  FIG. 2 is a view showing a first embodiment of the light irradiating means for irradiating the light passage part 3 with parallel light, which is installed below the coin transporting road surface 1b. , And a light source (for example, a light emitting diode, hereinafter referred to as LED) 5 disposed at the focal point. Since the light emitted from the focal point of the parabolic mirror 4 has the property of becoming parallel light when reflected on the mirror surface, parallel light is created using this property.

  Moreover, the light passage part 3 is naturally narrower than the diameter of the coin, and the part actually required in the parabolic mirror is a shaded part in the figure. Therefore, the parabolic mirror may have a shape obtained by cutting off a part of the parabolic mirror as shown at the bottom of FIG.

  A parabolic mirror can be manufactured by vapor-depositing a metal such as aluminum on a resin (for example, polycarbonate or the like) molded into a predetermined shape to finish the mirror surface.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a light receiving means for receiving parallel light that has passed through the light passing portion 3 and is installed above the coin transporting road surface 1b, and includes two parabolic mirrors 6 and It is composed of two light receiving sensors (for example, photodiodes or phototransistors) 7 arranged at the respective focal points. Since the parallel light that has passed through the light passing portion 3 and reflected by the parabolic mirror 6 has a property of being collected at the focal point, a light receiving sensor 7 is disposed at the focal position to detect the amount of light that has passed through the light passing portion 3. .

  The parabolic mirror 6 is preferably an off-axis paraboloidal mirror so that the light passing through the light passage portion 3 is not blocked by the light receiving sensor 7. FIG. 3A is a view as seen from the coin conveyance direction, and FIG. 3B is a view as seen from a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction.

  Since the light receiving means collects parallel light and receives it at a point, the light receiving means is structurally the same as that obtained by replacing the light source of the light irradiation means with a light receiving sensor. Therefore, as another embodiment of the light receiving means, it is possible to use a light receiving sensor 7 in place of the light source 5 in the embodiment of the light irradiation means shown in FIG. 2 and FIGS. 4 and 5 described later.

  Further, the output of each light receiving sensor 7 is sent to the control unit 8 to calculate the total amount of received light, and the diameter of the coin is obtained from the amount of received light when no coin passes and the minimum value of the amount of received light when the coin passes. The coin diameter may be calculated by combining the outputs of the respective light receiving sensors. Moreover, you may make it obtain | require a coin diameter combining the output of each light reception sensor, and the total light reception amount. The obtained coin diameter is output from the control unit 8 to a predetermined device and used for the coin identification process. Here, the coin diameter is calculated based on the amount of light received when the coin is not passed and the minimum value of the amount of light received when the coin is passed. This is to cope with a change in the amount of light passing through due to a change in the amount or a variation in the size of the light passing portion.

  Here, when the coins are one-sided and conveyed to one of the coin conveyance guides 1a, the coin diameter can be substantially detected by the amount of light received by the light-receiving sensor on the non-side-aligned side, and therefore the detection accuracy is further increased. The reason for this will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 shows a comparison of the outputs of the respective light receiving sensors when, for example, in FIG. 3, 1-yen coins and 500-yen coins are shifted to the coin conveyance guide on the left side (a side) in the figure. 9 shows the output of the light receiving sensor 7a on the one side, but since the coins are one sided, the light passing part 3 on the a side is almost completely shielded and there is almost no difference due to the coin diameter. . On the other hand, since the output of the light receiving sensor 7b on the right non-shifting side (b side) is less light-shielded than the 500-yen coin having a larger diameter, the 1-yen coin having a smaller coin diameter has a smaller light receiving amount. And the output of the light receiving sensor also increases, resulting in a large output difference. In addition, since the difference in the coin diameter is almost detected on the non-shifting side, there is also an effect that the difference appears clearly.

  However, in this state, for example, when the one-yen coins are slightly offset (about 1 to 2 mm), the output of the left light receiving sensor 7a hardly changes (a portion where the curve of the left graph in FIG. 9 is loose). However, since it appears as a large change in the right light receiving sensor 7b (a portion where the curve of the right graph has a steep slope), there is a problem that an error occurs. For this, using a standard gauge in advance, memorizing the output when the offset is shifted by 1 mm and 2 mm with the same light shielding width, and correcting for each light receiving sensor will reduce the error. Is possible.

  Further, the error can be reduced by changing the curve of the change in output of the light receiving sensor with respect to the change in diameter from a quadratic curve to a straight line. As shown in FIG. 1 (C), the light passing portion 3 is shaped so as to gradually become narrower toward the inner side in the width direction of the coin conveyance road surface 1b (trapezoidal shape or tapered shape). The characteristic can be made substantially linear.

  FIG. 4 is a view showing a second embodiment of the light irradiating means for irradiating the light passing portion 3 with the parallel light, which is installed below the coin transporting road surface 1b, and has two off-axis releases sharing the focus. The object mirrors 4a and 4b and one light source LED 5 arranged at the focal point thereof are configured. This can be considered to be obtained by removing an unnecessary portion (central portion) from the parabolic mirror 4 in FIG. 2, and thus is substantially the same.

  FIG. 5 is a view showing a third embodiment of the light irradiating means for irradiating the light passage portion 3 with parallel light, which is installed below the coin transporting road surface 1b. And a light source LED 5 arranged at the focal point thereof. FIG. 5A is a view as seen from the coin conveyance direction, and FIG. 5B is a view as seen from a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing a fourth embodiment of the light irradiating means for irradiating the light passage part 3 with parallel light, which is installed below the coin transporting road surface 1b, and includes two off-axis parabolic mirrors 4a. 4b and two light source LEDs 5a and 5b arranged at the focal point thereof. Compared with the third embodiment of FIG. 5, the size of the parabolic mirror 4 can be reduced, and the distance between the mirror surface and the light source can be shortened, so that the apparatus becomes compact. Note that FIG. 6A is a diagram viewed from the coin conveyance direction, and FIG. 6B is a diagram viewed from a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction.

  FIG. 7 is a view showing a relative positional relationship between the light irradiation means and the light receiving means in the coin diameter detecting apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 7A shows a case where parallel light is vertically incident on the light passage portion 3, and the amount of light passing through the light passage portion is the largest.

On the other hand, FIG. 7B shows a case in which parallel light is incident on the light passage portion with a predetermined angle θ ₂ (for example, 0 to 30 °) inclined toward the transport direction. . Compared with (A), the amount of light passing therethrough is reduced as a whole, but there is an advantage that there is less possibility that dust falling from the light passage portion 3 will adhere to the surface of the parabolic mirror of the light irradiation means.

  FIG. 8 shows FIG. 7 as a specific example. FIG. 8A is a specific example of FIG. 7A, and shows a case where the embodiment of the light receiving means of FIG. 3 and the embodiment of the light irradiation means of FIG. 6 are combined.

  FIG. 8B is a specific example of FIG. 7B, and shows a case where the embodiment of the light receiving means of FIG. 3 and the embodiment of the light irradiation means of FIG. The parabolic mirror 4 in the light irradiating means in FIG. 8B is installed so that the mirror surface is almost vertical, and is not directly under the light passage portion 3, so that dust falls from the light passage portion 3. However, it becomes difficult to adhere to the mirror surface.

  As described above, the case where the light irradiating means is arranged below the coin conveying road surface and the light receiving means is arranged above the coin conveying road surface has been described. However, the light irradiating means is arranged above the coin conveying road surface to receive light. Needless to say, the same applies to the case where the means is disposed below the coin conveyance road surface.

It is the figure which looked at the coin diameter detection apparatus which concerns on this invention from the upper direction of the coin conveyance path. It is a figure which shows 1st Example of the light irradiation means installed below the coin conveyance road surface. It is a figure which shows the Example of the light-receiving means for receiving the parallel light which was installed above the coin conveyance road surface and passed the light passage part. It is a figure which shows 2nd Example of the light irradiation means installed in the downward direction of a coin conveyance road surface. It is a figure which shows the 3rd Example of the light irradiation means installed under the coin conveyance road surface. It is a figure which shows the 4th Example of the light irradiation means installed below the coin conveyance road surface. It is a figure which shows the relative positional relationship of the light irradiation means and light-receiving means in the coin diameter detection apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which showed the specific example of FIG. It is a figure which shows the characteristic of the output of a light receiving sensor.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Coin conveyance path 1a Coin conveyance guide 1b Coin conveyance path surface 2 Coin 3 Light passage part 4 Parabolic mirror 5 Light source 6 Parabolic mirror 7 Light receiving sensor 8 Control part

Claims (5)

A coin conveyance path including a pair of coin conveyance guides and a coin conveyance path surface on which coins are conveyed one by one;
A light irradiating means for irradiating light to the conveyed coins through a light passage portion disposed below the coin conveying path surface and provided on the coin conveying path surface;
A light receiving means that is disposed above the coin transporting road surface and receives light that has not been shielded by the transported coins among the light that has passed through the light passage unit;
A control unit that determines a diameter of the coin based on a relationship between a maximum light reception amount when the coin does not pass and a minimum light reception amount when the coin passes through the light passage unit and shields light; In the coin diameter detection device,
The light passage portions are provided on both sides in parallel from the width direction of the coin conveyance road surface or at a predetermined angle from the coin conveyance guide side to the inside.
The light irradiating means is composed of one or two parabolic mirrors and a light source arranged at the focal point of each parabolic mirror, and irradiates the light passage part with parallel light,
The light receiving means is composed of two parabolic mirrors and a light receiving sensor arranged at the focal point of each parabolic mirror, and the parallel light that has passed through the light passage part is focused on each parabolic mirror. A coin diameter detecting device for collecting and receiving light.
2. The coin diameter detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the light irradiation unit is disposed above the coin conveyance path surface, and the light receiving unit is disposed below the coin conveyance path surface.
The coin diameter detection device according to claim 1, wherein the light passage portion is formed by a notch from a side end portion of the coin conveyance path surface with a predetermined width.
The light irradiating means and the light receiving means are arranged so that the parallel light is incident on the light passage portion at a predetermined angle with respect to the coin conveying path surface or perpendicular to the conveying direction. The coin diameter detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
  The coin diameter detecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the parabolic mirror is an off-axis parabolic mirror.

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