JPH04111091A - Coin sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a coin sorter compact by forming a first coin path arranging a coin discriminating means and a second coin path arranging a coin distributing means as coin paths. CONSTITUTION:In a main body 21 of the coin sorter, a first coin path 33 arranging a coin discriminating means 32 and a second coin path 25 arranging a coin distributing means 35 are formed as coin paths. In a normal case, the advancing direction of the coin path 25 is released and when coins discriminated as regular coins by the coin discriminating means 32 are transferred, the coin distributing means 35 blocks the advancing direction of the coin path 25. Then, the advancement of the transferred regular coins is stopped at the various positions of the coin path 25 for each denomination and simultaneously, the bottom of the coin path 25 is opened at various positions for each denomination. Then, the coins discriminated as regular coins are guided downward from the bottom of the coin path 25 at various position for each denomination.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a coin sorting device used in automatic vending machines, money exchange machines, service equipment, and the like.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, a coin sorting device 1 used in a vending machine, a money exchange machine, a service device, etc. has a configuration as shown in the conceptual cross-sectional view of FIG. 24.

Note that the coin sorting device referred to here refers to a coin processing device that sorts and stores input coins by denomination, and dispenses the sorted and stored coins as change. Corresponds to the selection part.

Inside the main body 2 of the coin sorting device 1, a coil sensor 4 is provided which is a coin discriminating means for discriminating whether the coin A inserted into the coin receiving port 3 is genuine or not, and the denomination of the coin when it is considered to be a genuine coin. A so-called rail-type coin sorting means 6 is provided, which includes a first coin passage 5 formed at an angle, and a so-called rail-type coin sorting means 6 that pushes the transferred coins down to the side of the passage and sorts them into special coin passages according to the difference in their diameters. A second coin passage 7 arranged and also formed at an angle, and a diameter sorting means consisting of a hole 8 and a tongue piece 9 that sort vertically falling coins into special coin passages according to the difference in their diameters. A vertical third coin passage 10 etc. is formed.

In FIG. 24, reference numeral 11 denotes a lever that divides the inserted coin A into genuine coins and (reserve coins) based on the detection signal of the coil sensor 4. 7 and the third coin passage 10, and the counterfeit coins are guided to a dispensing chute (not shown) formed on the front side.

Further, in FIG. 24, reference numeral 12 denotes a lever that sorts coins that are considered to be genuine coins based on the judgment signal of the coil sensor 4 into a large diameter coin group and a small diameter coin group. A group of large diameter coins of 100 yen is guided to an inclined second coin passage 7 having a rail-type coin sorting means 6, and the rail-type coin sorting means 6 disposed in the middle of the coin passage 7 separates the coins of 500 yen. The coins are separated into 100 yen and 100 yen coins, and each coin is guided to a special vertical coin passage formed below.

On the other hand, the coins sorted into small diameter coin groups of 50 yen and 10 yen by the lever 12 are guided to the vertical third coin passage 10 side, and are guided through the hole 8 and the tongue piece 9 arranged in the middle. The coins are sorted into 50 yen and 10 yen coins by a diameter sorting means, and then sorted into specially formed vertical coin passages.

[Invention or problem to be solved]

By the way, according to the conventional coin sorting device 1 described above, as shown in FIG. a vertical third coin passage 10 that requires a certain amount of space;
Furthermore, since it is necessary to form a large number of specially formed vertical coin passages for guiding the sorted coins to different locations, the vertical size H of the device main body 2 becomes large. Therefore, it was difficult to downsize the coin sorting device, and especially in vending machines, the storage space for the products to be sold was limited.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide an extremely small coin sorting device.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the coin sorting device of the present invention includes a first coin discriminating means for discriminating the genuineness of the inserted coin and the denomination of the coin considered to be genuine coin. a passage, a second inclined coin passage for guiding coins transferred from the first coin passage; and a second coin passage disposed in the second coin passage, the traveling direction of the second coin passage being normally open; At the same time, when a coin deemed to be a genuine coin by the coin discriminating means is transferred to the second coin passage, the coin is transferred to the second coin passage.
The direction of movement of the coin passage is blocked, the movement of transferred genuine coins is stopped at different positions in the second coin passage for each denomination, and at the same time, the bottom surface of the second coin passage is closed for each denomination. The coin sorting means releases coins at different positions and guides coins considered to be genuine coins downward from the bottom surface of the second coin passage at different positions for each denomination.

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned coin sorting device, the coin sorting device main body includes, as coin passages, a first coin passage in which a coin discriminating means is disposed, and a second coin passage in which a coin sorting means is disposed. Since a vertical coin passage for sorting coins is not required, the size of the coin sorting device main body in the vertical direction can be made extremely small, and the coin sorting device can be made compact.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the coin sorting device according to the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 2 shows a coin sorting device 20 to which the main part of the present invention is applied.
This is a conceptual side view, and particularly shows a cross-sectional view of the main part of this coin sorting device 20 installed in a device such as a vending machine.

In this coin sorting device 20, the vertical installation space S- in a device such as a vending machine is the same as the vertical size H- of the coin sorting device 20, and the coin sorting device 20 is extremely space-saving as a whole. The sorting device 20 itself has an extremely compact shape.

This coin sorting device 20 is composed of a device main body 21 which is formed into an abbreviated shape when viewed from the side, and a coin slot 22 formed at the tip of the device body 21 is directly attached to an n23 of a device such as a vending machine. It is being

This coin sorting device 20 is arranged in a device main body 21, as shown in the third figure, which is an enlarged conceptual cross-sectional view of the coin sorting device 20, and a pair of endless belts are arranged to collect coins inserted from a coin input slot 22. A horizontal first coin passage 33 is provided with a coin horizontal conveyance means 24 that grips and forcibly conveys coins in the horizontal direction (rightward in the drawing); A coin sorting means, which will be described later, is provided to sort coins by denomination, and the second coin passage 25 is formed in an inclined manner.

Of these, the coin horizontal conveying means 24 disposed in the horizontal first coin passage 33 is composed of a pair of rollers disposed vertically opposite to each other. An endless belt 27 made of an elastic material such as silicone rubber is wound around roller groups 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d, and roller groups 28a, 28b, and 2 disposed below are wound around roller groups 26a, 26b, 26c, and 26d.
8c.

An endless belt 29 made of an elastic material such as silicone rubber is also wound around the belts 28d and 28e, facing the endless belt 27.

Therefore, according to the above-mentioned coin horizontal conveyance means 24, when the pair of belts 27.29 is rotated via the pair of rollers, the inserted coin is gripped between the pair of belts 27.29 and forced in the horizontal direction ( (rightward in the drawing).

In addition, as shown in FIG.
A spring is attached to each shaft supporting the coins 27 and 28c, and the shafts 27 and 28c are pressed against each other to adjust the pressure between the endless belts 27 and 29 that grip the inserted coins.

On the other hand, a first coin passage 3 having a coin horizontal conveying means 24
A coin discriminating means 32 constituted by a so-called coil sensor, which is composed of an oscillating coil 30 and a receiving coil 31 arranged at a predetermined interval, is disposed in the middle of the coin discriminating means 32. Coin horizontal conveyance means 2
The genuineness of the coins held and forcibly conveyed between the pair of belts 27 and 29 constituting 4 and the denomination of the coins considered to be genuine coins are determined.

Note that the roller 28d of the above-mentioned pair of roller groups is
The coin conveyed between the oscillating coil 30 and the receiving coil 31 is supported from the bottom surface thereof.

As shown in FIG. 4, which is an AA sectional view of FIG. A protruding trapezoidal guide member 34 is disposed, so that a coin (indicated by a - dotted chain line) that is forcibly conveyed horizontally within the first coin passage 33 always reaches this guide member 34 at one end. Since the coins are brought into contact with the guide member 34 and guided along the inclined surface 34a of the guide member 34, the coins conveyed within the first coin passage 33 are transferred to the coin discriminating means 32 with this inclined surface 34a as a reference position. The coin passes between the oscillating coil 30 and the receiving coil 31, and therefore the coin discriminating means 32 may make a judgment error based on the difference in the passing position of the coin passing between the oscillating coil 30 and the receiving coil 31. This means that it is possible to reduce the

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 80 is a shutter detection sensor that detects the opening/closing operation of a shutter, which will be described later, for opening and closing the coin slot 22, and 81 is a coin pull-back prevention lever that prevents the inserted coin from being pulled back by the thread hook. .

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1 shown in the BB cross section of FIG. When a coin deemed to be a genuine coin is transferred from the first coin passage 33 to the second coin passage 25, the direction of movement of the second coin passage 25 is blocked and the transferred coin is The movement is stopped at different positions for each denomination, and at the same time, the bottom surface of the second coin passage 25 is released at different positions for each denomination, so that the coins considered to be genuine coins are separated for each denomination. Coin sorting means 35, which is a main component of the present invention, is provided to guide the coins downward from the bottom surface of the second coin passage 25 at the position.

The coin sorting means 35 consists of three levers 36. which are arranged in sequence from the upstream to the downstream of the second coin passage 25 and have substantially the same configuration and are disposed so as to be retractable upward in the drawing. 37
．． It consists of 38.

Each of the levers 36, 37, 38 is generally formed into a planar shape or an abbreviated shape as shown. Of these, the lever 36 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 5, which is a perspective view of the main part in FIG. 1, and FIG. The second coin passage 25 has a protruding inclined surface part 36a constituting the bottom surface 25a of the second coin passage 25, and an inclined surface part 36a fixed to the side of the downstream end of the inclined surface part 36a and erected substantially perpendicularly to the inclined surface part 36a. The gate section 36b is made up of a gate section 36b.

According to such a lever 36, as shown in FIG. When the lever 36 is projected a predetermined distance to the right, the gate portion 36b of the lever 36
The coin advancing direction of the second coin passage 25 is released,
In addition, the inclined surface portion 36a protrudes to form the bottom surface 25a of the second coin passage 25.

Also, as shown in FIG. 7, in which the same parts as in FIG. 36b closes the coin advancing direction of the second coin passage 25, and the inclined portion 3
6a into the center plate 4], the bottom 25a of the second coin passage 25 is released.

Therefore, according to the lever 36 described above, coins are transferred from the first coin passage 33 (FIG. 1) to the second coin passage 25.
When the lever 36 is transferred from the center plate 41 to the right side of the drawing by the solenoid plunger 40, as shown in FIG. 9 which is a perspective view of the main part in FIG. When the lever 36 is protruded, the coin advancing direction of the second coin passage 25 is released by the gate part 36b of the lever 36, and the inclined surface part 36a protrudes to form the bottom surface 25a of the second coin passage 25. The coin a guided into the coin passage 25 passes through this lever 36,
The coins are further transferred to the downstream of the second coin passage 25.

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, which is an enlarged perspective view of the main part of FIG. /7") part 36b blocks the coin advancing direction of the second coin passage 25, and the inclined part 36a is sucked into the center plate 41, so that the bottom part 25a of the second coin passage 25 is released. The coin a guided into the second coin passage 25 is transferred to this lever 3.
The coin a is prevented from advancing by the cage portion 36b of No. 6, and the bottom surface 25a of the second coin passage 25 at the position where the lever 36 is disposed is released, so that the coin a is now moved to the position where the lever 36 is disposed. They will be guided below and sorted.

Note that the levers 37 and 38 shown in FIG.
are operated independently by different solenoid plungers, and have the same structure and function except for sorting and sorting coins of different denominations, so a description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the coin sorting action of the coin sorting device 20 described above will be explained, and the configuration will also be explained in more detail.

As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 13, in which the same parts as in FIG.
When the coin a is inserted into the slot 22, it is determined whether the inserted coin a is considered to be a coin or is simply It is determined whether the object is a foreign object such as a piece of aluminum, and if it is determined that the object is a coin, the shutter 51, which normally closes the coin insertion port 22, moves toward the F direction by the suction force of the solenoid plunger 52, and the coin is inserted. The opening 22 is opened to allow insertion of the coin a.

When the shutter 51 moves downward and this movement is detected by the sensor 80 shown in FIG. 3, the coin horizontal transport means 24 is driven as shown in FIG. 14, where the same parts as in FIG. The motor 53 rotates in the normal direction, and the roller 28e is rotated in the normal direction via the gears 55, 56 and the shaft 57 that constitute the gear transmission mechanism 54, thereby transferring the input coin a to the 13th
The coin a is held between the heddles 27 and 29 in the figure, and is forcibly conveyed horizontally to the right in the figure.

Note that whether or not the coin a has indeed been conveyed into the coin horizontal conveyance means 24 is confirmed by a gate sensor 82 disposed in the middle thereof. In this way, if the gate sensor 82 for confirming receipt of a coin is disposed at a predetermined position between the coin insertion slot 22 and the coin discrimination means 32, that is, at a position where the coin inserter cannot touch the inserted coin, If the inserted coin is pulled out midway due to mischief by the coin inserter, etc., it is possible to eliminate the waste of performing the input coin sorting process, which will be described later. In other words, after the gate sensor 82 confirms whether the inserted coin has been accepted, the input coin sorting process, which will be described in detail later, is performed.

On the other hand, after this coin a passes through the gate sensor 82, the first
The coin is conveyed along the inclined surface 34a of the guide member 34 shown in FIG.
When the coin a passes between the oscillating coil 30 and the receiving coil 31 (FIG. 13) of No. 2, the detection signal of the coin discriminating means 32 determines whether the coin a is genuine or not, and the denomination of the coin if it is considered to be a genuine coin. It is determined. Then, this coin a is detected by the coin discriminating means 32.
When it is determined that the coin a is a counterfeit coin based on the detection signal of The counterfeit coins are guided to a counterfeit coin chute 59 by a lever 58 that closes off the space between the coin discharge end 24a and the second coin passage 25, and then returned to a coin dispensing port (not shown).

On the other hand, based on the detection signal of the coin discrimination means 32 mentioned above,
If the horizontally conveyed coin a is determined to be a genuine coin, the 15th
As shown in FIG. 16, in which the same parts as in the figure are designated by the same reference numerals, the lever 58 is
rotates a predetermined rotation angle clockwise about the shaft 58a, and connects the discharge end 24a of the coin horizontal conveyance means 24 and the second coin passage 2.
5 and guides the coin a, which is considered to be a genuine coin, into the second coin passage 25.

Based on the detection signal of the coin discriminating means 32, if it is determined that the horizontally conveyed coin a shown in FIG. 16 is a genuine coin and is a 500 yen coin, As shown in FIG. 17, in which coins are indicated by the same reference numerals, the coins are sucked toward the center plate 41 by the lever 36 constituting the coin sorting means 35 or by a solenoid plunger (not shown), so that the coins are guided into the second passage 25. The 500 yen coin falls below the second coin passage 25 at the position where the lever 36 is disposed, and is stored in the coin tube 60 exclusively for 500 yen.

Further, based on the detection signal of the coin discriminating means 32, the first
The horizontally conveyed coin a shown in Figure 6 is a genuine coin, and 1
If it is determined that the coin is a 00 yen coin, the coin sorting means 3
Among the levers making up the second coin passage 25, only the lever 37 is sucked toward the center plate 4 by a solenoid plunger (not shown). The coins fall to the lower part of the second coin passage 25 where they are placed, and are stored in the coin tube 6 exclusively for 00 yen.

Further, based on the detection signal of the coin discriminating means 32, the first
If the horizontally conveyed coin a shown in Figure 6 is an iE coin and is determined to be a 10 yen coin, then the coin is transferred as shown in Figure 19, where the same parts as in Figure 1 are designated by the same symbols. Of the levers constituting the distribution means 35, only the lever 38 is
The 10 yen coin d is attracted toward the center plate 4 side by a solenoid plunger (not shown) and guided into the second coin passage 25, and then moves downward into the second coin passage 25 at the position where the lever 38 is disposed. The coins fall and are stored in the coin tube 62 dedicated to 10 yen coins.

Furthermore, if it is determined that the horizontally conveyed coin a shown in FIG. 16 is a genuine coin and a 50 yen coin based on the detection signal of the coin discriminating means 32, the same part as that in FIG. As shown in FIG. 20 indicated by the same reference numerals, the coin sorting means 3
Since none of the levers 36, 37, and 38 constituting the coin passage 25 maintain a normal state in which none of the levers 36, 37, and 38 constituting the coin passage 25 are attracted to the center plate 4 side, the coin passage 25 is guided into the second coin passage 25.
The 0 yen coin e is not prevented from advancing by any of the levers 36, 37, and 38, and falls downward from the downstream end of the second coin passage 25 as shown by the arrow, and enters the 50 yen dedicated (7) coin tube 63. It will be stored and stored.

In addition, in FIG. 20, numerals 64, 65, 66, 67 are overflow sensors attached to each coin tube 60, 61, 62, 63.
4.65.66.67 consists of a light-emitting element such as a light-emitting diode and a light-receiving element such as a phototransistor, and is used to check whether the number of coins accumulated in each coin tube 60.61.62.63 has reached a predetermined number. Detect whether or not.

In addition, each overflow sensor 64, 65, 6 mentioned above
6.67 are attached to each coin tube 60, 61, 62, 63 at an angle corresponding to the thickness of one coin to be accumulated, and as a result, due to factors such as vibration, each overflow sensor 64, 65, 66. 67 is even on,
This prevents repeated off cycles.

Each overflow sensor 64.65.66.6 mentioned above
According to No. 7, the same parts as in FIG. 20 are denoted by the same symbols.
As shown in FIG. 1, for example, after a predetermined number of coins are accumulated in the coin tube 61 that accommodates 1.00 yen coins C, and the overflow sensor 65 detects the accumulated coins, the 18th
As shown in FIG. 22, in which the same parts as in the figure are designated by the same reference numerals,
When the 100 yen coin C is guided from the first coin passage 33 into the second coin passage 25, in this case, the lever 37 is not sucked toward the center plate 41 by a solenoid plunger (not shown), and the second coin passage C is guided into the second coin passage 25. The normal state in which the direction of movement of the coin passage 25 is released is maintained.

As a result, the coin tube 6 that accommodates the 100 yen coin C
1 overflows, the 100 yen coin C that is newly transferred into the second coin passage 25 is not guided into the coin tube 61 that accommodates the 100 yen coin C, and the lever 36.
37 and 38, and is guided downstream of the second coin passage 25.

On the other hand, if an overflow of a specific denomination is detected by the overflow sensor 64, 65, 66, 67 of the overflow sensors 64, 65, 66, 67 provided for each denomination described above, then As shown in FIG. 23, there is normally a lever 70 that expands the space between the downstream end of the second coin passage 25 and the coin chute flow 3 that accommodates 50 yen coins, or a solenoid bracket (not shown). The suction force causes the shaft 70aAj to rotate by a predetermined angle clockwise and close the space between the downstream end of the second coin passage 25 and the coin tube 63, so that the coins that cannot be accommodated due to the overflow of the coin tube are removed. If so, guide the 100 yen coin C to the cash chute 71. The coins guided to the cash unit 71 are stored in a safe (not shown) via the cash unit 71.

In addition, each coin tube 60.61.62.6 mentioned above
3, the coins accumulated in each coin tube 60.61.
62. A coin dispensing device (not shown) disposed below 63 selects a coin according to the change and dispenses a coin (not shown).
Needless to say, -1 is paid out.

In the above embodiment, a coin discriminating means is provided as the first coin passage for initially guiding the inserted coins, and a coin horizontal transport means 24 for forcibly transporting coins in a horizontal direction is provided. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
The second coin passage serves as the first coin passage that initially guides the inserted coins.
As shown in the conventional example shown in FIG. 4, an inclined first coin passage 5 having a coin discriminating means may be used, and even in this case, there is no space inside the coin sorting device body as a coin passage. , a first coin passage 5 in which a coin discrimination means 4 is arranged.
and a second coin passage 25 in which a coin sorting means 35 is arranged.
This eliminates the need for a large number of vertical coin passages, such as a third vertical coin passage for sorting coins, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. By making the size in the direction extremely small, the installation space for the coin sorting device in equipment such as a vending machine can be greatly reduced.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the coin sorting device of the present invention, the first coin passage in which the coin discriminating means is disposed and the coin sorting means are disposed in the coin sorting device main body as a coin passage. This eliminates the need for a large number of coin passages such as a vertical third coin passage for sorting coins as in the past. As the size has become extremely small, the coin sorting device has become more compact, which requires more space for installing the coin sorting device in equipment such as vending machines [1]
can be reduced to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a coin sorting means constituting the main part of the coin sorting device according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of the coin sorting device according to the present invention installed in equipment such as a vending machine. FIG. 3 is a conceptual enlarged cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the coin sorting device according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a CC sectional view of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 is a conceptual perspective view of the main part of FIG. 1, FIG. 8 is a DD sectional view of FIG. Fig. 10 is a conceptual perspective view of the main part of Fig. 9, Fig. 11 is a conceptual perspective view of the main part of Fig. 1, Fig. 12 is an FF sectional view of Fig. 1], Fig. 13 23 are conceptual sectional views illustrating the operation of the coin sorting device according to the present invention,
FIG. 24 is a conceptual sectional view of a conventional coin sorting device. 20... Coin sorting device, 2]... Coin sorting device main body,
25... Second coin passage, 32... Coin discrimination means, 3
3...First coin passage, 35...Coin sorting means, 36
．． 37.38... Lever 3 Figure 4 Funeral 5 Figure ° Go Figure 7 F''-/ Figure 11 Figure 8 Figure 10 Figure 12 Figure 15 J Figure 16 Figure 19 Figure 20 Figure 23 Figure 24

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A first coin passage provided with a coin discrimination means for discriminating the genuineness of the inserted coin and the denomination of the coin considered to be genuine, and a coin passage transferred from the first coin passage. a second inclined coin passageway for guiding coins; and a second coin passageway disposed in the second coin passageway, which normally releases the traveling direction of the second coin passageway, and which coins are recognized as genuine coins by the coin discrimination means. When the coins transferred to the second coin passage are transferred to the second coin passage, the direction of movement of the second coin passage is blocked, and the progress of the transferred genuine coins is controlled by different denominations of the second coin passage. At the same time, the bottom surface of the second coin passage is released at different positions for each denomination, and the coins considered to be genuine coins are released on the bottom surface of the second coin passage at different positions for each denomination. A coin sorting device comprising a coin sorting means for guiding the coins downward from the coin sorting device. (2) The coin sorting device according to claim (1), wherein the coin discriminating means comprises an oscillating coil and a receiving coil arranged at a predetermined interval. (3) The coin sorting means is arranged sequentially from upstream to downstream of the second coin passage, and is arranged so as to be able to appear and retract independently toward the side of the second coin passage. A coin sorting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the coin sorting device is comprised of a plurality of levers. (4) The lever is formed into a substantially L-shape in plan view, and when protruding toward the side of the inclined second coin passage, releases the coin advancing direction of the second coin passage, and Second
forms the bottom surface of the coin passage, and when sucked from the side of the second coin passage, blocks the coin traveling direction of the second coin passage and releases the bottom part of the second coin passage. A coin sorting device according to claim (3), characterized in that: