JP2588657Y2 - Coin sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin sorting apparatus used for vending machines, currency exchange machines, service equipment and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, coin sorters for sorting input coins into genuine coins and counterfeit coins and sorting genuine coins into denominations are installed in devices such as vending machines, money changing machines, and service devices. I have.

In the coin sorting apparatus described above in recent years, as a coin discriminating means for discriminating the authenticity of inserted coins and the denomination of genuine coins, an oscillating and receiving coil provided at a predetermined interval and opposed to each other is used. An electronic coin discriminating means using a coil sensor composed of:

The discrimination between the inserted coin and the denomination of the inserted coin is made based on the oscillation of the above-mentioned coil sensor and a change in the reception frequency and the like detected when the coin passes between the receiving coils. ing.

[0005]

By the way, in the coin sorting apparatus using the above-mentioned electronic coin discriminating means comprising a coil sensor, discriminating elements such as material, size and weight of coins are compared with those of genuine coins. Rather than discriminating the authenticity of the coin, to determine the authenticity of the inserted coin by changes in the reception frequency and the like detected when passing between the oscillation and the receiving coil, the genuine is a material, size, Even if the coins have completely different weights, the coil sensor mistakenly identifies them as genuine coins if the change in the reception frequency, etc., detected while passing between the oscillation and receiving coils is the same level as the genuine coins. In particular, such a tendency of misrecognition is remarkable in the case of coins smaller than the minimum weight among coins handled by the coin sorting apparatus.

In order to remove coins weighing less than the minimum weight described above, a coin sorting means such as a cradle arm for sorting coins according to their weight and diameter is separately provided in a coin passage immediately after the coin insertion slot. Then, coins having a weight smaller than the minimum weight among the coins handled by using the coin sorting means may be sorted out.However, the arrangement position of the coin sorting means such as the cradle arm and the space thereof are secured. To take this into consideration, a significant design change must be made to the basic design of the existing coin sorting apparatus, which has the disadvantage of increasing its manufacturing cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, without making any change to the basic design of the conventional coin sorting apparatus.
When a coin weighing less than the lowest weight coin among the coins handled is inserted, the coin is removed and returned without passing through the coil sensor that determines the authenticity of the coin etc. It is an object to provide a sorting device.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a first coin passage which is directly communicated with a coin slot and formed substantially vertically downward is provided. A first coin passage formed by a gate plate that opens and closes the main plate is connected to a downstream end of the first coin passage, and discrimination is made between true and false coins and denominations of coins passing along the way. A second coin passage in which a coil sensor is arranged, and a coin disposed between the main plate and the gate plate, which are disposed below the first coin passage and which open when the gate plate is expanded, are discharged. In a coin sorting device having at least a slag chute to
At the periphery of the coin insertion slot, the downstream end of the first coin passage is always resiliently closed from the coin insertion port to the downstream of the first coin passage, and the minimum weight of coins to be handled is equal to or more than the minimum weight of the coins to be handled. When a heavy coin is inserted into the coin insertion slot, the weight widens the downstream end of the first coin passage, allowing the coin to pass through the second coin passage, When a coin weighing less than the minimum weight of the coins to be handled is inserted into the coin insertion slot, a tongue piece of an elastic body that presses the coin against the gate plate and stops the advance of the coin is detachably attached. The coin, which has been mounted and pressed against the gate plate by the tongue piece of the elastic body and whose movement has been stopped, is guided to the slag chute by expanding the gate plate.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view of the coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

The coin sorting apparatus 1 includes a main plate 2 made of a hard polymer material, a gate plate 3 that can be opened and closed to cover an upper front portion of the main plate 2, and a lower front portion of the main plate 2. Front cover 4
And so on.

A coin slot D is formed between the upper portion of the main plate 2 and the gate plate 3, and a coin slot D is provided substantially vertically below the coin slot D. And a first coin passage 5 for guiding coins inserted from the coin insertion slot D substantially vertically downward.

At the lower end of the first coin passage 5 and between the front of the main plate 2 and the gate plate 3, coins falling from the first coin passage 5 are moved rightward in the drawing. An inclined second coin passage 6 to be rolled is formed. The second coin passage 6 is composed of a gate rail 7 made of metal or the like. In the middle of the second coin passage 6, the authenticity of coins inserted and coins regarded as genuine coins A coil sensor 8 that includes an oscillation and reception coil (not shown) for determining the denomination is provided. Needless to say, the oscillation and receiving coils are arranged at intervals of about one coin in order to pass the inserted coins.

On the other hand, below the end of the second coin passage 6,
That is, between the lower front part of the main plate 2 and the front cover 4, a slag chute for discharging coins caught between the main plate 2 and the gate plate 3, and the inserted coins in accordance with the detection value of the coil sensor 8. A coin sorting device including a solenoid (not shown) for sorting by denomination, a plurality of coin passages for guiding the sorted coins by denomination are formed.

On the other hand, on one side wall 5a side of the first coin passage 5, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. A body tongue 10 is provided.

The tongue piece 10 is made of a synthetic resin such as Mylar. The upper end 10a of the tongue piece 10 is provided with an adhesive or the like on the slope 11a of a stopper bracket 11 removably fitted to the periphery of the coin slot D. Is pasted through.

The free end 10b, which is the lower end, is shown in FIG.
, The other side wall 5b of the first coin passage 5,
That is, it is pressed against the gate plate 3 with a predetermined elastic force. The resilience of the tongue piece 10 is determined by the coin sorting device 1.
When a coin having a weight equal to or greater than the minimum weight among the coins handled by the player is inserted from the coin slot D, the first
When a coin having a weight smaller than the minimum weight among the coins to be handled is inserted, the coin is pressed against the gate plate 3 to stop the advance of the coin, and the first coin is stopped. The coin passage 5 is kept closed, and the passage of the coin is prevented.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 9 denotes a slag chute formed in the front cover 4. When a coin jammed between the main plate 2 and the gate plate 3 drops due to the expansion of the gate plate 3, the slug chute 9 is formed. It ejects coins.

Next, the structure of the tongue piece 10 will be described in more detail with reference to the operation of the tongue piece 10 described above.

As shown in FIG. 3 in which the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, a coin B having a weight equal to or greater than the minimum weight among the coins handled by the coin sorting apparatus 1 is inserted from the coin insertion slot D as indicated by a dashed line. Then, the coin B is put on the tongue piece 10 due to its weight.
Is bent clockwise against its resilient force, so that the first coin passage 5 is released and the coin B passes through the first coin passage 5. And this coin B is the first
After passing through the coin passage 5, the coin B rolls along the second coin passage 6 to the right side of the drawing as shown by the arrow in FIG. The coin B passes through the coil sensor 8, and during the passage, the authenticity of the coin B and its denomination are determined.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5 in which the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, a coin C having a weight smaller than the minimum weight among the coins handled by the coin sorting apparatus 1 is indicated by a one-dot chain line from the coin slot D. When the coin C is inserted, the coin C tries to bend the free end 10b of the tongue piece 10 clockwise by its own weight against the resilience. In this case, the resilience of the tongue piece 10 is smaller. Since it is set to be strong, the coin C is placed in the first coin passage 5
The other side surface 5b, that is, between the gate plate 3 and the free end 10b of the tongue piece 10, stops its movement.

In this case, a gate lever (not shown) is operated, and the gate plate 3 is moved as shown by an arrow in FIG.
Is released to the right, the coin C sandwiched between the other side surface 5b of the first coin passage 5 and the free end 10b of the tongue piece 10 is
Slag chute 9 formed below first coin passage 5
And returned to a coin return port (not shown). Therefore, according to the coin sorting apparatus 1 described above, when a coin C having a smaller weight than the minimum weight among the coins to be handled is inserted into the coin insertion slot D, the coin C is returned to the coin return slot via the slag chute 9, and Since the coin C does not pass through the coil sensor 8 through the second coin passage 6 shown in FIG. 2, mistakes in discriminating the true and false coin types of the coin by the coil sensor 8 are reduced as much as possible. Becomes

Incidentally, in order to prevent the liquid material from flowing into the second coin passage 6 in response to the mischief of flowing a sticky liquid material such as detergent from the coin slot D, the same as FIG. As shown in FIG. 6 in which the portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, a plurality of liquid material guide grooves 20 for guiding the liquid (arrow) injected from the coin insertion port D further downward along the first coin passage 5 are formed. , First
The liquid material flowing along the guide groove 20 is formed on the main plate 2 below the first coin passage 5 while being formed on the main plate 2 and the gate plate 3 constituting both side walls of the coin passage 5. In some cases, after being collected by a liquid collecting section (not shown), the collected liquid is quickly discharged to the outside of the coin sorting apparatus 1 via a tube or the like.

In the coin sorting apparatus 1 provided with such a liquid discharging means, when the above-mentioned tongue piece 10 is simply disposed in the first coin passage 5, the surface of the tongue piece 10 causes
Since there is a possibility that the liquid material poured from the coin slot D may not flow along the guide groove 20, in this case, as shown in FIG.
A plurality of long holes 10c are formed on the surface of the tongue 10 along the liquid material guide groove 20, and the liquid material flowing on the surface of the tongue piece 10 may be guided into the guide groove 20 through the long hole 10c.

In the above-described embodiment, the tongue piece 10 is attached to the periphery of the coin slot D via the stopper bracket 11 which can be freely fitted. The tongue piece 10 can be easily attached to the sorting device without any design change or the like.

[0026]

As described above, in the coin sorting apparatus of the present invention, the elastic tongue is detachably attached to the first coin passage formed by the main plate and the gate plate immediately after the coin insertion slot. To close this first coin passage,
When a coin having a weight equal to or greater than the minimum weight among the coins handled by the tongue piece is inserted, the first coin is determined by the weight of the coin.
The coin passage is expanded to allow passage to the second coin passage, and when a coin weighing less than the minimum weight of the coins to be handled is inserted, the coin is pressed against the gate plate. When the progress of the coins is stopped and the gate plate is expanded, the stopped coins are returned to the coin return port via a slag chute, so that the coins whose weight is smaller than the minimum weight of the coins to be handled Does not pass through the second coin passage provided with the coil sensor,
Therefore, false recognition of coins by the coil sensor can be reduced as much as possible. Further, since the above-mentioned tongue piece is detachably attached to the periphery of the coin insertion slot, it is possible to provide the coin sorting apparatus at a very low cost without making any design change to the existing basic design.

[0027]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cutaway side view of a main part of a coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary front view of a coin sorter according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side view showing the operation of the coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary front view showing the operation of the coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side view showing the operation of the coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing another embodiment of the coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary front view showing another embodiment of the coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Coin sorter 2 ... Main plate 3 ... Gate plate 5 ... 1st coin passage 6 ... 2nd coin passage 8 ... Coil sensor 9 ... Slug chute 10 ... Tongue piece 10c ... Slot D ... Coin slot

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A first coin passage directly communicating with a coin slot and formed substantially vertically downward, wherein the first coin passage is formed by a main plate and a gate plate which opens and closes the main plate. A second coin passage connected to the downstream end of the first coin passage, and a coil sensor arranged to determine the authenticity of the coin passing therethrough and the denomination of the genuine coin;
A coin sorting device disposed below the first coin passage and having at least a slag chute for discharging coins caught between the main plate and the gate plate when the gate plate is expanded, At the periphery of the coin insertion slot, the downstream end of the first coin passage is always resiliently closed from the coin insertion port to the downstream of the first coin passage, and the minimum weight of coins to be handled is equal to or more than the minimum weight of the coins to be handled. When a heavy coin is inserted into the coin insertion slot, the weight widens the downstream end of the first coin passage, allowing the coin to pass through the second coin passage, When a coin weighing less than the minimum weight among the coins to be handled is inserted into the coin insertion slot, an elastic tongue that presses the coin against the gate plate to stop the coin from moving is attached and detached. The coin which has been mounted and pressed against the gate plate by the tongue of the elastic body and whose movement has been stopped is guided to the slag chute by expanding the gate plate. Coin sorting device. 2. A coin sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said tongue has an elongated hole.