JPH0520522A - Coin discriminating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the degradation in detection precision of discrimination due to the impedance change of a coil and to accurately discriminate poor counterfeit coins and game coins by discriminating a coin as a counterfeit at the time when this coin jumps a certain extent or more. CONSTITUTION:When a coin 31 passes parts of coils 15 and 16, it is discriminated whether the coin 31 jumps or not based on the passing position of the coin 31 acquired by a image sensor 23 at the time of detecting passage of the coin 31 by optical sensors 27 and 28. It is detected whether the coin 31 jumps or not by the distance from the lower end of the image of the coin 31 to a bottom 30a of the coin passage 30. If this distance is longer than a threshold (about 3mm), the coin 31 is discriminated as a counterfeit because of wrong jump.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin discriminating device for discriminating between authenticity and denomination of coins inserted in an automatic transaction processing device or a vending machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A coin discriminating apparatus has been put into practical use, in which a coil is provided in a passage of inserted coins, a high frequency is applied, and a coin denomination and authenticity are judged based on fluctuations in amplitude level, frequency or phase. There is. That is, since the magnetic resistance differs depending on the size and material of the passing coin, and the variation amount (measured value) of the above-mentioned element also varies, the denomination and authenticity can be determined based on this.

[0003]

By the way, in order to make an accurate determination based on the measured value, it is indispensable that a certain amount of fluctuation occurs with a certain denomination. Further, for this purpose, it is necessary that the passing coin always passes through a certain position with respect to the coil.

Generally, the coin passage is constructed so that the coins roll and move in a standing state. However, some coins may jump (jump) while rolling. When a coin jumps, the passing position of the coin with respect to the coil fluctuates, and even the same type of coin may have different measured values. For this reason, an error may occur in the determination of coins, which is a cause of reducing the reliability of the coin discriminating apparatus.

By the way, the cause of the coin jump is that the circumference of the coin is not a perfect circle due to scratches, burrs or stains on the coin. They are more common in foreign coins and so-called game coins than in coins, which do not collect crude forged or bad coins.

Conventionally, there has been a drawback in that forgery or the like jumped due to a scratch or the like is determined as a true coin by erroneous detection due to the jump.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a coin discriminating apparatus which solves the above problems by determining that a jumped coin is a fake coin.

[0008]

The present invention provides a coin discriminating apparatus for discriminating between authenticity and denomination of a coin which has passed through a coil provided opposite to a coin passage, based on a change in the inductance of the coil. When the coin passes through the coin passage and the passage position detecting means for detecting the position where the coin has passed, the passage position detecting means determines that the coin has passed above the bottom surface of the coin passage by a certain amount or more. In this case, a means for determining the coin as a fake coin is provided.

[0009]

The coin discriminating apparatus of the present invention comprises passage position detecting means for detecting which position of the coin passage the coin has passed,
And a means for determining that the coin is a fake coin when the passage position is above the passage bottom surface by a certain amount or more, that is, when the coin jumps over a certain amount. As described above, the jumping coin has a very high probability of having fake coins, etc. Also, since even a true coin is damaged, it is possible to realize a more accurate coin discrimination by judging it as a fake coin. it can.

[0010]

1 is a diagram showing the construction of a coin passage of a coin discriminating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control section of the coin discriminating apparatus. An image sensor 23 for detecting the diameter of the coin is provided in the coin passage 30, a coil (transmitting coil 15 and receiving coil 16) for detecting the size and material of the coin by a change in impedance, and the passage of the coin near the coil is detected. Optical sensors 27 and 28 are provided for the operation. As shown in FIG. 1, the coin passage 30 is formed in a shape such that the coin 31 rolls and passes in a standing state, and the coin 31 moves from left to right in the figure. A normal coin moves along the bottom surface 30a of the coin passage as shown in the figure, but a defective coin or the like may jump and fall away from the bottom surface 30a of the coin passage while rolling.

The contents detected by the image sensor 23, the coil 16 and the optical sensor 28 are judged by the CPU 10. CPU 10 is provided with ROM 12 and RAM via bus 11.
13, image data control circuit 20, data processing circuit 2
5, coil drive circuit 14, A / D converter 18, LE
It is connected to the D drive circuit 26 and the amplifier 29. ROM
12 stores various operation programs, a table for determining the denomination of coins that have passed, based on the detected coin diameter and the amount of impedance change. R
A register or the like for temporarily storing the data of the passed coil is set in the AM 13. A transmission coil 15 is connected to the coil drive circuit 14 and controls the frequency and voltage of the high frequency applied to this coil. Also, A /
An amplifier 17 that amplifies the high frequency received by the receiving coil 16 is connected to the D converter 18. The A / D converter 18 converts the amplitude and frequency of the high frequency received by the receiving coil 16 into digital data and buffers it. This data is read by the CPU 10 when needed. The image sensor control circuit 20 is connected to an LED array drive circuit 21 that drives the LED array 22 and an image sensor 23. Image sensor 23
Is composed of a CCD array or the like, and when a coin passes, the diameter of the coin is detected by the number of cells in which light from the LED array 22 is blocked by the coin. The read data of the image sensor 23 is amplified by the amplifier 24 and input to the data processing circuit 25. The data processing circuit 25 controls the coin 3 under the control of the image sensor control circuit 20.
The maximum diameter of 1 is detected and buffered. This data is read by the CPU 10 when needed.

An LED 27 is connected to the LED drive circuit 26. The LED 27 faces the optical sensor 28 formed of a photodiode or the like with a coin passage 30 in between. The optical sensor 28 includes a coil 15, as shown in FIG.
Since it is provided in the vicinity of 16, the optical sensor detects a change in the amplitude of the receiving coil 16 when detecting a coin. The optical sensor 28 is connected to an amplifier 29, and the passage of coins is determined based on the output of the amplifier 29.
The amplifier 29 is a so-called comparator, and if the output of the optical sensor becomes lower than the threshold value, it is determined that the coin is passing.

When the coin 31 passes, the CPU 10 first detects the diameter of the coin by the image sensor 23, and when the optical sensor 28 detects the coin, detects the size and material of the coin by the impedance change of the coils 15 and 16. To do. The denomination and authenticity of the coin are identified based on this information.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation of the CPU 10. This operation shows only the operation when the coin passes through the coils 15 and 16. When the passage of coins is detected by the optical sensors 27 and 28, it is determined whether or not the coin 31 is jumping based on the passage position of the coin 31 captured by the image sensor 23. Whether or not the coin is jumping can be detected by how far the lower end of the image of the coin 31 is from the bottom surface 30a of the coin passage 30. If this distance is greater than the threshold value (set to about 3 mm), a coin 3
Since 1 jumps unreasonably, it is judged as a fake coin (n
4) Finish the operation. This makes it possible to accurately identify forged coins, game coins, etc. of poor quality. On the other hand, if no jump is detected, the diameter and coil 16 detected by the image sensor at n3 are detected.
The coin denomination or the like is discriminated based on the amount of change in inductance detected by.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, parts having the same configurations as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. In the present invention, the image sensor 23 does not detect a jump of coins, but a jump sensor 35 is newly provided near the coils 15 and 16. Coils 15, 1
6 is provided at such a height that the vicinity of the center of the coin 31 passes, and the passage sensors 27 and 28 are slightly below the coil 30 on the bottom surface 30.
It is provided near a. On the other hand, the jump sensor 35 is provided closer to the bottom surface 30a than the passage sensors 27 and 28, and is provided about 3 mm above the passage bottom surface 30a. If the jump sensor 35 does not detect a coin despite detecting the coin from the passage sensors 27 and 28, it can be determined that the coin is jumping. That is,
In the graph of FIG. 5, the output of the jump sensor is (C).
When the coin has the shape of, the coin passes normally without jumping, but when no detection pulse is output as in (D), it is determined that the coin is jumping and the counterfeit coin. Is distinguished.

Also in this embodiment, the CPU can execute the discrimination processing by the same operation as the flowchart of FIG. In this case, the n2 jump detection is performed based on the detection value of the jump sensor 35.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, when a coin jumps more than a certain amount, it is determined that the coin is a fake coin, so that it is possible to prevent the detection accuracy from being lowered by the coil. In addition, it is possible to accurately distinguish fake coins and game coins of poor quality.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram in the vicinity of a coin passage of a coin discriminating apparatus that is an embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the coin discriminating apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control unit of the coin discriminating apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing waveforms detected by the coin discriminating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

15-transmission coil, 16-reception coil, 23-image sensor, 30a-coin passage bottom surface, 35-jump sensor.

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A coin discriminating apparatus for discriminating between authenticity and denomination of a coin which has passed through a coil provided facing a coin passage through which a coin rolls and which passes, based on a change in inductance of the coil. A passage position detecting means for detecting a position where the coin has passed through the coin passage; and a passage position detecting means for passing the coin above the bottom surface of the coin passage when the coin passes through the coin passage. A coin discriminating apparatus comprising: a unit for determining that the coin is a fake coin when it is determined that the coin is discriminated.