JPH06195540A - Coin processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a coin processing device which is reducible in manufacture cost by simplifying its circuit constitution from the detection of characteristics of coins and the passage of the coins to decision making. CONSTITUTION:This coin processing device is equipped with at least one of coin characteristic detection parts 3, 15, 4, and 16 which detect variation of a magnetic field based upon characteristics of a coin, at least one of coin passage detection parts 7 and 17 which detects variation of the magnetic field due to the passage of the coin, a selecting means 14 which selects one signal among characteristic signals outputted by the coin characteristic detection parts 3, 15, 4, and 16 and passage signals outputted from the coin passage detection part 7 and 17, a signal processing circuit 13 which processes the selected signal, and control circuits 11 and 18 which decides whether or not the coin is proper and its kind on the basis of the processed characteristic signal and decides the passage of the coin at an optional position on a conveyance path on the basis of the processed passage signal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to, for example, a vending machine,
The present invention relates to a coin processing device that is provided as a coin processing device in a money changer or the like and that processes inserted coins.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional coin processing device processes coins with the following configuration and method. That is,
A conventional coin processing device includes three magnetic sensors as a coin characteristic detection unit that detects the characteristics of a coin, for example, three elements of the material, thickness and diameter of a coin, and a coin passage detection unit that detects passage of a coin. 1 magnetic sensor, a total of 4 signal processing circuits for signal processing each of the characteristic signal and the passing signal output from these magnetic sensors, and 4 signal processing circuits respectively provided corresponding to the signal processing circuits. A / D converter,
It is composed of a CPU as a control circuit for inputting the output signal of the A / D converter.

When a coin is inserted into the apparatus, the respective magnetic sensors detect the characteristics such as the material of the coin and the change in the magnetic field due to the passage of the coin. The characteristic signal as the detection result is subjected to signal processing by the corresponding signal processing circuit, and is input to the CPU via the A / D converter. The characteristic signal input to the CPU is compared with the data stored in the memory to determine the suitability and type of coin. Here, the coin is returned when it is determined that the inserted coin is not proper, and is stored in the coin storage along the transport path when it is determined to be proper. At the time of storage, a magnetic sensor, which is a coin passage detection unit, detects passage of coins in the transport path, and after the same signal processing as described above is performed, CP
At U, it is determined that the coin is received in the coin storage, and based on this, a storage signal is sent to the outside of the device.

[0004]

The conventional coin processing device described above has the following problems. That is,
Each of the magnetic sensors that detect the four types of signals of the material, the thickness, the diameter, and the passage of coins described above is provided with a signal processing circuit and an A / D converter that have the same configuration. Therefore, the circuit configuration is complicated and the cost is high. In addition, the CPU input port for inputting output signals from a plurality of A / D converters needs to have a number corresponding to the type of signal to be detected. Therefore, a CPU with a large number of input ports must be used. There was also a design constraint that it had to be.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a coin processing device capable of reducing the manufacturing cost by simplifying the circuit configuration from the detection of the characteristics of a coin and the passage of a coin to the determination thereof. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object,
The coin processing device of the present invention includes at least one coin characteristic detection unit that detects a change in the magnetic field due to the characteristics of the inserted coin, and at least one coin passage detection unit that detects a change in the magnetic field due to the passage of the inserted coin. Selecting means for selecting one signal from at least two signals of the characteristic signal output from the coin characteristic detecting portion and the passage signal output from the coin passage detecting portion; Signal processing circuit that performs signal processing of the signal, and whether the coin is appropriate or not based on the characteristic signal processed by the signal processing circuit, and at any position on the transport path based on the passing signal processed by the signal processing circuit. And a control circuit for discriminating the passage of coins in.

[0007]

According to the coin processing device of the present invention, when a coin is inserted, at least one coin characteristic detection unit detects a change in the magnetic field due to the characteristic of the coin and outputs a characteristic signal. On the other hand, at least one coin passage detection unit also detects a change in the magnetic field due to the passage of coins and outputs a passage signal. The selecting means includes at least two of the output characteristic signal and the passing signal.
One of the above signals is selected and output to the signal processing circuit. The signal processing circuit performs signal processing on the characteristic signal or the passing signal and then outputs the signal subjected to the signal processing to the control circuit. The control circuit determines the suitability and type of coin based on the signal processed characteristic signal, and determines the passing of the coin at an arbitrary position on the transport path based on the signal processed passing signal. In this way, by interposing the selecting means between the coin characteristic detecting unit and the coin passage detecting unit and the signal processing circuit, it is possible to perform signal processing of a plurality of signals with one signal processing circuit.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A coin processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. This coin processing device is of a type to be installed in a vending machine.
Is a side view of the cutting. This coin processing device 1 is provided with a coin slot 2 opened at an upper part of the present device, a thickness detection sensor 3 arranged below the coin slot 2 for detecting a thickness of the coin, and a material of the coin. A material detection sensor 4 for detecting a coin, a transport path 5 for transporting coins inserted from the coin slot 2, a coin passage gate 6 disposed below the transport path 5, and a lower portion of the coin passage gate 6. Coin passage sensor 7 for detecting the passage of coins or the presence or absence of coins
A receiving passage 8 for storing coins in a coin storage (not shown), a return passage 9 for returning coins, and a coin processing unit 10 for performing processing such as coin selection.

Here, the thickness detection sensor 3, the material detection sensor 4, and the coin passage sensor 7 are all composed of a magnetic sensor with a coupling coil, and a magnetic field generated when the inserted coin passes through the magnetic field. The thickness detection sensor 3 and the material detection sensor 4 measure the change in
The coin passage sensor 7 outputs a passage signal (hereinafter, the characteristic signal and the passage signal are collectively referred to as "detection signal"). In addition,
Multiple magnetic sensors are used to detect the material of the coin, but this is to detect the change of the magnetic field due to the coin, for example, the change of impedance, inductance, etc. This is because it is necessary to use an oscillator or a coupling coil having a frequency suitable for detecting such as. In other words, for the diameter and thickness, it is necessary to use a high frequency in order to detect using the skin effect, but for the material, because it detects changes in the magnetic field inside the coin,
This is because it is necessary to use a low frequency to some extent.

Next, the basic operation of the coin processing device 1 will be described. When a coin is inserted into the coin slot 2,
The coin moves along the transport path 5 into the coin processing device 1. When the coin reaches a predetermined position, the thickness detection sensor 3 and the material detection sensor 4 output characteristic signals for detecting the thickness and material of the coin to the coin processing unit 10, respectively.
The coin processing unit 10 compares the characteristic signal with previously stored coin data, returns the coin through the return passage 9 if the coin is not proper, and outputs a gate drive signal if the coin is proper. Then, a coin drive gate (not shown) is driven to open the coin passage gate 6, and the coin is stored in the coin storage via the receiving passage 8. Then, when passing through the receiving passage 8, the coin passage sensor 7 detects a change in the magnetic field due to passage of coins and outputs the passage signal to the coin processing unit 10. When the coin processing unit 10 receives the passage signal, the coin processing unit 10 sends a coin proper signal to the outside of the coin processing device 1,
The predetermined coin processing ends.

Next, the electric circuit of the coin processing device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The components shown in the figure are mainly built in the coin processing unit 10, and the reference numeral 11 shown in the figure is a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as "CPU") for performing coin processing including coin selection processing. And constitutes a control circuit together with a coin data storage unit described later.

The input port of the CPU 11 has an A / D
The thickness detection sensor drive unit 15, the material detection sensor drive unit 16, and the coin passage sensor drive unit 17 are connected via the conversion unit 12, the signal processing circuit 13, and the selection circuit 14 (selection means). The thickness detection sensor driving unit 15 and the material detection sensor driving unit 16 constitute a coin characteristic detection unit together with the thickness detection sensor 3 and the material detection sensor 4, and the coin passage sensor driving unit 17 includes the coin passage sensor 7 Together with this, it constitutes a coin passage detector.

Of these, the thickness detection sensor driving unit 15 is
An oscillator that oscillates a sine wave and a receiving circuit that receives the oscillating wave via the thickness detection sensor 3 are built in. And
The oscillator is connected to the D1 port of the CPU 11 that outputs an oscillator on / off signal used to control the oscillation of the oscillator, and the thickness detecting sensor 3 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the input section of the receiving circuit. ing. Further, the selection circuit 14 is connected to the output section of the reception circuit, and is configured so that the received oscillation wave can be output as a characteristic signal. Further, the material detection sensor driving unit 16 and the coin passage sensor driving unit 17 are also configured to have an oscillator and a receiving circuit, and are connected to the D2 and D3 ports of the CPU 11, the material detection sensor 4 and the coin passage sensor 7, respectively. ing.

The selection circuit 14 is a circuit for selecting the detection signal output from each drive unit, and is connected to the output port SEL terminal of the CPU 11 which outputs the selection signal for selecting the detection signal. At the same time, a signal processing circuit 13 that processes the selected detection signal is connected. It should be noted that the SEL terminal is composed of two output ports, and one detection signal is selected from the three detection signals by combining the signals of "1" or "0" and outputting them from the two terminals. Is configured to be able to.

The signal processing circuit 13 amplifies the detection signal output from the selection circuit 14 to a predetermined amplitude, then shapes the waveform by a built-in clip circuit, and outputs the waveform-shaped detection signal to the A / D converter 12. Output.

The A / D converter 12 converts the waveform-shaped analog detection signal into a digital signal and outputs it to the CPU 11. In this embodiment, the A / D converter 1
Although 2 is used independently, when the A / D converter is built in the CPU, the built-in A / D converter may be used.

On the other hand, the coin data storage unit 18 is connected to the output port of the CPU 11 via a bus line, and the gate drive unit 19 and the coin proper output unit 20 are connected to each other via a serial communication line. The gate drive unit 19 and the coin proper output unit 20 are the coin processing unit 1
It is provided outside 0.

Of these components, the coin data storage unit 1
Reference numeral 8 stores coin data such as the thickness and material of coins according to the type of coin. Then, the CPU 11 accesses a predetermined address of the coin data storage unit 18 in response to the selection signal output from the SEL output port, so that necessary coin data is read.

The gate drive unit 19 controls opening and closing of the coin passage gate 6. Specifically, when the CPU 11 compares the characteristic signal detected by the thickness detection sensor 3 and the material detection sensor 4 with the coin data stored in the coin data storage unit 18 and determines that the coin is an appropriate coin. And outputs a gate drive signal to the gate drive unit 19,
Drives the coin passage gate 6 based on this gate drive signal.

The coin proper output unit 20 is a partner to which the CPU 11 sends a proper coin signal. This proper coin signal is determined by the CPU 11 that the coin is received in the receiving passage 8 when the coin is received in the receiving passage 8, that is, from the passage signal in which the coin passage sensor 7 detects the change in the magnetic field due to the passage of the coin. When it does, it is output from the CPU 11.

Next, the coin processing operation will be described in detail. The CPU 11 has the output port D1 in the initial state.
From the output port D2 and D3 respectively, and outputs a predetermined selection signal from the output port SEL for selecting the characteristic signal of the thickness detection sensor 3. At this time, only the oscillator built in the thickness detection sensor driving unit 15 is oscillating. In this state, when a coin is inserted into the coin slot 2, the characteristic signal detected by the thickness detection sensor 3 is passed through the selection circuit 14, the signal processing circuit 13, and the A / D conversion unit 12 to the CPU 11
Entered in.

Next, the CPU 11 outputs a "1" signal from the output port D2 and outputs "0" from the output ports D1 and D3.
Each signal is output to oscillate only the oscillator of the material detection sensor driving unit 16, and a predetermined selection signal is output from the output port SEL to select the characteristic signal of the material detection sensor 4. The characteristic signal detected by the material detection sensor 4 is similarly input to the CPU 11. CPU1
1 collates the input characteristic signal with the coin data stored in the coin data storage unit 18, and outputs a gate drive signal to the gate drive unit 19 when they match and determine that the coin is proper. At that time, the output port D3 outputs a “1” signal and the output ports D1 and D2 output a “0” signal, respectively, to cause only the oscillator of the coin passage sensor drive unit 17 to oscillate, and A predetermined selection signal is output from the output port SEL to select the passing signal. When it is determined that the coins do not match and the coins are not appropriate coins, the coin drive gate 6 is closed without outputting the gate drive signal, and the coins are returned to the return passage 9.

When the gate drive unit 19 drives the coin passage gate 6, coins are received in the receiving passage 8. next,
When the coin passage sensor 7 detects a passage signal and outputs it to the CPU 11, and the CPU 11 collates the coin data and determines that the coin has passed, an appropriate coin signal is output by the coin proper output unit 20.
To output the coin processing operation.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the signal processing circuit for amplifying the characteristic signal and the passing signal and shaping the waveform can be performed by one signal processing circuit 13,
It is possible to simplify the configurations of the signal processing circuit and the A / D conversion unit 12, and save the number of input ports of the CPU 11. Further, since the oscillation of the oscillator of each sensor drive unit is controlled on / off to determine the thickness and the like, there is only one oscillator that oscillates at the same time, so each sensor outputs an accurate detection signal without interfering with each other. can do.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the application of the coin processing device is not limited to vending machines, but is widely applied to coin sorting devices such as currency exchange machines, and the procedure for detecting characteristic signals and passing signals is also limited to this embodiment. Not a thing. Further, in this embodiment, the detection signal is selected by two kinds of signals, that is, the selection signal output from the SEL output port and the oscillation on / off signal output from the D1 to D3 output ports. Only one type of signal may be used.
In this case, the output ports D1 to
Only the oscillation on / off signal output by D3 may be used as the selection means to add the detection signals of the respective drive units in the signal processing circuit 13 to perform the signal processing.

[0026]

As described above, according to the coin processing device of the present invention, one signal is selected after at least one of the coin characteristic signal and the passing signal is selected by the selection circuit. Since the signal processing is performed by the processing circuit, the configuration of the signal processing circuit that performs signal processing on a plurality of detection signals for detecting the characteristics and passage of coins is simplified, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a cutting side view of a coin processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an electric circuit of the coin processing device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 coin processing device 3 thickness detection sensor 4 material detection sensor 7 coin passage sensor 11 CPU 13 signal processing circuit 14 selection circuit 15 thickness detection sensor drive unit 16 material detection sensor drive unit 17 coin passage sensor drive unit 18 coin data storage unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A at least one coin characteristic detection unit that detects a change in a magnetic field due to the characteristics of an inserted coin, and at least one coin passage detection unit that detects a change in a magnetic field due to the passage of an inserted coin. Selection means for selecting one of at least two signals of a characteristic signal output from the coin characteristic detection portion and a passage signal output from the coin passage detection portion, and the selection output from the selection means. A signal processing circuit that performs signal processing of the processed signal, and determines the suitability and type of coin based on the characteristic signal processed by the signal processing circuit, and conveys the coin based on the passing signal processed by the signal processing circuit. A coin processing device, comprising: a control circuit for discriminating passage of a coin at an arbitrary position on a road.