JP2520891Y2 - Coin storing and feeding device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin storage / feeding device, for example, an electronic cash register,
The present invention relates to a device which is used by connecting with a POS register or the like, or by connecting with a deposit / withdrawal management machine at a window of a financial institution, and throwing out a predetermined number of coins in response to a coin dispensing command.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, cashiers and electronic devices such as an electronic cash register and a deposit / withdrawal management machine are used at a cash register of a store or a counter of a financial institution in order to accurately and promptly deliver cash to a customer. The money deposit / withdrawal device has been developed which is connected to each other automatically and automatically dispenses and accepts cash by an electric signal from these depositing / dispensing devices. Among these coin depositing / dispensing devices, a structure described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-76185 is known as a coin storing and feeding device.

This coin storing and feeding device includes a coin storing portion for storing coins in a non-aligned state, and a feeding belt which constitutes at least a part of a bottom surface of the coin storing portion and conveys coins toward a feeding outlet. In the upper area of the feeding side of the feeding belt, the coins stored in a non-aligned state are further arranged in a line by a separating roller that is provided in opposition to the belt surface with a gap through which one coin can pass. A structure has been adopted in which coins are fed out and discharged from the tip of the feeding belt, and coins falling from the tip of the feeding belt at the time of this discharge are detected and counted by an optical sensor.

[0004]

In the above-described conventional coin storing and feeding device, the coins dropped from the tip of the feeding belt are detected by the optical sensor to count the number of fed coins. At the time of detection, the state of the coin detected is unstable because the coin is placed on the reversing part where the tip of the feeding belt changes its direction in an arc shape or is located away from the feeding belt. There was a problem that erroneous detection such as double detection occurred.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a coin storing and feeding device which can detect coins in a stable posture and can reliably detect coins. Is.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A coin storing and feeding device of the present invention comprises a coin storing portion for storing coins in a non-aligned state, and a coin storing portion which constitutes at least a part of a bottom surface of the coin storing portion and conveys coins. The feeding belt to be fed out, the separating roller which is provided in the upper region on the feeding side of the feeding belt so as to face the belt surface with a gap through which one coin can pass, and the feeding belt which is located downstream of the separating roller. Positions where both sides of the coin are fed to guide the peripheral surface of the coin to be fed and the coin is brought into surface contact with the belt surface of the feeding belt and conveyed, and a part of the peripheral edge of the coin deviates from one side edge of the feeding belt. A pair of coin guiding members, and one side of the feeding belt and one side of the feeding belt at a position where a part of the peripheral edge of the coin guided by the pair of coin guiding members deviates from one side edge of the feeding belt. Formed between the edges And an optical sensor that detects a coin fed out by passing the optical axis through the gap and in a state where the coin is conveyed while being in surface contact with the belt surface of the feeding belt. .

[0007]

In the coin storing and feeding device of the present invention, the coins in the coin storing portion conveyed by the feeding belt are fed one by one under the separating roller and fed out, and the fed coins are a pair of coin guide members. A part of the peripheral edge of the coin deviates from one side edge of the feeding belt in a state where the coin is guided and comes into surface contact with the belt surface of the feeding belt, and one side of the coin guiding member and the one side of the feeding belt. The coin fed out by the optical sensor whose optical axis passes through the gap formed with the edge is detected in a stable state in which the coin is conveyed while being in surface contact with the belt surface of the feeding belt.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1, 2, and 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a machine of a coin depositing / dispensing machine, and an upper part of a front surface 2 of the machine body 1 is inclined forward toward the lower side, and a plurality of coins are provided on the upper part of the front surface. The coin receiving port 3 for receiving the coins at the same time is opened.

Then, the feeding belt 4 constituting the bottom of the coin receiving port 3 is suspended by rollers 5 and 6 axially supported at the lower front and rear positions of the coin receiving port 3 so as to convey the coin toward the back of the machine body 1. Has been done.

A regulating member, for example, a separation roller 7 is rotatably supported on the upper portion of the feeding belt 4 on the feeding side.
The separating roller 7 and the rear roller 6 are interlocked with the electric motor 8 via the drive belt 9, and the separating roller 7 is rotated in the same direction as the rear roller 6 so that the coin feeding direction by the feeding belt 4 is increased. The coins are rotated in the opposite direction to the feeding belt 4 and are opposed to each other with a gap through which the coins can pass so as to regulate the coins in one line.

As described above, the coin receiving / feeding portion 10 is formed by the coin receiving opening 3, the feeding belt 4, and the separating roller 7 as the regulating member.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a coin passage. The coin passage 11 is a coin discriminating passage portion 12 which is connected to the coin receiving and feeding portion 10 and conveys the fed coins further toward the back, and the coin discriminating passage portion 12. And a coin sorting passage portion 13 which is continuously provided and is turned in the width direction of the machine body 1 at the back position of the machine body 1.

The coin discriminating passage portion 12 has a passage side plate 14 on one side facing the back direction, which protrudes onto the feeding belt 4 and allows a maximum diameter coin to be processed to pass through a gap between the passage side plate 15 on the other side. Configured in width. The coin discriminating passage portion 12 is provided with the passage side plates 14 and 15 on the passage bottom plate 16 formed in a substantially L-shape for sharing the coin fed from the coin receiving and feeding portion 10 with the coin sorting passage portion 13. It is formed by. In addition, the coin identifying passage portion 12 includes the passage side plates 14 and 1
It is meandering to the left by the inclined part to the left of 5,
The coins to be conveyed are conveyed along the passage side plate 15 on the right side. At the end of the coin identifying passage portion 12, a corner portion 17 is formed in the coin sorting passage portion 13 so as to bend at a substantially right angle from the right side to the rear side of the back.

Further, at the upper part of the coin identifying passage portion 12, a conveyor belt means 18 for conveying the received coins.
The conveyor belt means 18 is provided with first and second
The conveyor belts 19 and 20 are provided. The first conveyor belt 19 includes a pulley 31 mounted above the coin feeding end of the feeding belt 4 of the coin receiving and feeding section 10 and a pulley mounted in the middle.
Suspended to 32. The second conveyor belt 20 is stretched between a pulley 32 pivotally supported in the middle and a pulley 33 rotatably mounted immediately after the corner 27.

Further, a third conveyor belt is attached to the pulley 33 and the pulley 34 mounted on the end of the coin sorting passage portion 13.
When the pulley 34 is rotated in the coin transport direction by the electric motor 36 and the pulley 33 is rotated by the drive of the transport belt 35, the second transport belt 20 is also driven, and the pulley 32 is driven to drive the first transport belt 19. Are also driven in the coin transport direction. Also,
The second transport belt 20 is suspended around a corner portion 17 so as to be rotatable in a horizontal direction and a pulley 37 that changes the belt suspension direction to a substantially right angle in accordance with the coin passage 11. The rotational speeds of the conveyor belts 19, 20, 35 are set to be higher than the rotational speed of the feeding belt 4, so that the coins conveyed in the coin passage 11 are spaced from each other.

A discriminating portion 38 is provided at a position downstream of the pulley 32 in the coin discriminating passage portion 12, and the discriminating portion 38 is provided.
The offset detection sensor 39 for detecting whether or not the coin is along the right passage side plate 15, the coin hole detection sensor 40, and the image sensor 41 for detecting the left end of the coin are provided at the upper and lower positions of the passage portion 12, respectively. Detects the deviation, hole, and diameter of the coin conveyed through the coin identification passage section 12 to identify the denomination based on information on the size of the diameter, whether it passes through the normal position, whether there is a hole, or not. It is supposed to.

A coin sorting gate is provided at a position downstream of the identifying section 38.
The coin sorting gate 42 is provided on the surface of the coin discriminating passage section 12 from the right passage side plate 15 to a minimum diameter coin (one yen coin).
Has a drop hole 44 that is opened with a width smaller than the diameter of the passage side plate 15 inside the drop hole 44, and the right side edge of the coin being conveyed is placed on the drop hole 44. It has a shutter 46 that guides it so that it will not fall and is moved to the right by the excitation of the electromagnet 45, and that drops the coin into the drop hole 44 by not placing the right side of the coin being conveyed that has been biased to one side. Deposited coins that are determined to be regular coins by the portion 38 are not dropped into the drop hole 44 because the shutter 46 is located at a position where the right edge of the coin is placed as a fixed position for depositing, and the identification portion 38 In the deposited coin determined to be a reject reject coin such as a counterfeit coin instead of a regular coin, the shutter 46 is temporarily moved to the right by the non-excitation of the electromagnet 45 based on the signal of the identification unit 38, and the right edge of the coin is moved. Since there is no part to place and guide, it falls from the drop hole 44 and Excluded from the identification passage 12, and is accommodated in the receiving boxes 75 exclusion coins provided thereunder.

The coin sorting passage portion 13 is arranged continuously along the end of the coin identifying passage portion 12 in the upper back region of the machine body 1 along the lateral direction, and conveys coins for sorting by denomination.
The coin classification passage section 13 is provided with the coin identification passage section.
On a passage bottom plate 16 formed in a substantially L-shaped plate shape shared with 12,
A sorting reference rail 47 which is provided in the passage width direction to be continuous with the passage side plate 15 and is disposed slightly obliquely so as to approach the third conveyor belt 35 as going downstream of the coin sorting passage portion 13.
It is formed by. The sorting reference rail 47 has a linear sorting reference side facing the passage, and the coin sorting hole 48 corresponding to the coin diameter of each denomination is provided on the passage bottom plate 16 with this sorting reference side as a reference. The coin sorting passage portions 13 are sequentially arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side in correspondence with small-sized coins to large-sized coins.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, passage detecting sensors 49 for detecting passage of coins are provided upstream of the coin selecting holes 48 of the coin sorting passage portion 13, respectively. It is designed to detect whether it has been classified.

Reference numeral 51 denotes a coin-type coin storing / feeding unit, which is used for the machine body 1
Of the coin discriminating passage section 12 in front of the coin sorting passage section 13
Is arranged adjacent to a position surrounded by the coin passage 11 located on the left side of.

As shown in FIG. 3, the coin type coin storage / feeding unit 51 has a storage unit frame body 53 which is divided into coin type coin storage units 52 corresponding to the coin type coin selecting holes 48. The coin storage portion 52 has a bottom portion and forms a predetermined coin storage space below the height position of the coin selection hole 48. A payout belt 54 of a denomination for paying out coins to the front upper area along the ascending slope is suspended by rollers 55, 56, 57.

A restricting member, such as a separating roller 60, is rotatably rotatably supported by a restricting member for restricting the coins, which are paid out at the payout opening 59 in the upper area of the payout belt 54 on the payout side, in a single line. The separating roller 60 is rotated in the direction opposite to the feeding direction by being interlocked with the rotating shaft 61 and the electric motor 62 of the rear portion via the driving belt 63, and with respect to the feeding belt 54 so as to further regulate the coins in one line state. Are placed opposite each other with a gap that allows one coin to pass through.

Further, the roller 55 is interlocked with the electric motor 36 by a drive belt 58, and the rotation of the roller 55 drives the feeding belt 54 in a direction for feeding the coin forward.

Further, a counting unit of a denomination for detecting and counting coins which have passed through the separating roller 60 and fed out one by one, for example, an optical sensor 65 is provided. And
As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5, a state in which the peripheral surface of the coin to be fed is guided to both positions on the feeding side end of the feeding belt 54 and the coin is conveyed in surface contact with the feeding belt 54 surface. A pair of coin guide members 66, 67 having parallel inclined edges 68 for guiding a part of the peripheral edge thereof from one side edge of the feeding belt 54.
Are formed.

The optical sensor 65 is arranged so that the optical axis 69 of the optical sensor 65 passes through a gap 70 formed between the coin guide member 66 on one side and the side edge 54a of the feeding belt 54. The coins to be fed out are detected in a stable state in which they are conveyed while being in surface contact with the belt surface of the feeding belt 54.

Further, on the feeding belt 54, there is provided coin stopping means of a denomination for selectively stopping the coins on the feeding belt 54 before the position where the optical sensor 65 detects the coins. The stopping means is composed of an electromagnet 72 and a stop pin 73 with a thin tip of the plunger. When the electromagnet 72 is not excited, a compression spring provided on the plunger causes the stop pin 73 to have one coin or less between it and the feeding belt 54. Is opposed to the feeding belt 54 with a space between them, and when the electromagnet 72 is excited, the plunger is attracted against the compression spring, so that the stop pin 73 is moved upward to a distance through which a coin can pass between the stopping pin 73 and the feeding belt 54. It is supposed to be evacuated to.

In this way, the required coins are fed out by the predetermined number of coins by the coin type coin storing and feeding section 51.

At the lower part of the front face of the machine body 1, there is provided a payout coin guide part 76 which collects the coins fed out from the coin type coin storing and feeding part 51 at one place on the lower part of the front face of the machine body 1 by the inclined guide surface 75.

A register 80 is placed on the upper portion of the machine body 1, and a bill storage drawer 81 is provided on the lower portion.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When a depositing coin is inserted into the coin receiving port 3 of the machine body 1 connected to the register 80 and the electric motor 8 is driven, the conveyor belt 4 and the separating roller 7 are driven. The motor 36
The conveyor belts 19, 20, and 35 are driven by the driving of.

The coins fed into the coin receiving and feeding section 10 through the coin receiving port 3 are fed by the feeding belt 4 and formed into a single line by the separating roller 7 which is rotated in the direction opposite to the feeding direction. It is continuously fed into the identification passage portion 12 one by one.

The coins delivered to the coin identification passage portion 12 are separated by the interval between the coins when they are conveyed by the first conveyor belt 19 which rotates faster than the delivery belt 4.
Identified at 38. A coin bias detection sensor 39, a coin hole detection sensor 40, and an image sensor 41 that detects the left end of the coin are used by the identification unit 38 to reliably shift the coins conveyed in the coin identification passage unit 12 to the passage side plate 15 side. The denomination is identified by the information on whether the left end of the coin passes or not, whether or not there is a hole.

Then, the coins which are discriminated as regular coins by the discriminating section 38 are branched from the coin discriminating passage section 12 by the coin selecting gate 42. That is, the shutter 46 is located at the position where the right edge of the coin is placed, and the corresponding regular coin passes through the drop hole 44 without falling.

When the identifying unit 38 determines that the coin is an improper coin such as a false coin, the electromagnet 45 is excited based on the false coin identifying signal from each of the detection sensors 39, 40 and 41, and the shutter 46 is temporarily operated. The right coin edge portion of the coin to be guided and retracted from the coin discriminating passage portion 12 to drop the corresponding improper coin from the dropping hole 44, and from the coin discriminating passage portion 12 from above. The coins are removed and stored in a receiving coin receiving box 77 provided below the coins.

Next, the transport belts 19 and 20 for transporting the coin identifying passage portion 12 and the transport belt 35 for transporting the coin sorting passage portion 13.
The coin sent to the coin sorting passage 13 by the drive of
The peripheral edge is sorted by the third conveyor belt 35.
While being pressed against the coin guiding side surface of the coin 47, it moves toward the inside of the coin sorting passage 13 along the coin guiding side surface and is guided to the sorting reference side surface.

In this way, the coins conveyed by the conveyor belt 35 fall from the coin selection holes 48 of the corresponding denominations according to the coin diameter, and are sorted and stored in each coin storage section 52 for each denomination. It

When the coins stored in the coin storage sections 52 are dispensed, the electric motor 62 is driven to rotate the separation roller 60, as shown by the waveform a in FIG. A state in which the electric motor 36 is driven to drive the feeding belt 54 as shown by the waveform b in FIG. 7 and the electromagnet 72 is excited as shown in the waveform c in FIG. 7 so that the stop pin 73 can feed coins. become. Then, coins follow the rising slope with the feeding belt 54 stretched in a rising slope from the back of the machine body 1 forming a predetermined coin storage space below the height position of the coin selecting hole 48. And it is delivered to the upper area in front of.

The coins delivered to the upper region of the delivery belt 54 on the delivery side are in a single line in a state in which the coins 83 are overlapped as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 by the separating roller 60 which is rotated in the direction opposite to the delivery direction. It is regulated by and is fed out.

Then, the coins fed through the separating roller 60 and fed out one by one are detected by the optical sensor 65. At this time, the coins delivered by the delivery belt 54 are guided by the inclined edges 68 of the pair of coin guide members 66, 67, and the delivery belt 5
A part of the peripheral edge of the coin is removed from one side edge of the feeding belt 54 in a state of being brought into contact with the four surfaces and conveyed, and between the coin guide member 66 on one side and the side edge 54a of the feeding belt 54. The coin fed out by the optical sensor 65 whose optical axis 69 passes through the formed gap 70 is conveyed in surface contact with the belt surface of the feeding belt 54 and is detected in a stable state, which may cause erroneous detection. No, it can reliably detect coins.

At this time, as shown in FIG.
The number of coins is counted each time 65 is a light-shielded coin. Then, when a predetermined number of coins n are detected by the optical sensor 65 for each denomination, the electromagnet 72 corresponding to the coin storing portion 52 of the denomination becomes non-excited as shown by the waveform c in FIG. Due to the action of the compression spring attached to the plunger of the electromagnet 72, the stop pin 73 advances onto the feeding belt 54 and abuts on the upper surface of a predetermined number of coins (the state shown in FIG. 6). In this state, the coin is fed by the feeding belt 54 while sliding on the stop pin 73. When the coin is fed, the stop pin
73 approaches the feeding belt 54 and blocks the feeding of the next coin (state shown in FIG. 5).

As described above, when a predetermined number of coins are fed by the coin-type coin storing and feeding unit 51, the electric motor 36 or the feeding belt 54 is braked (hatched portion e in FIG. 7), and the electric motor 36 is operated. After the stop, the electric motor 62 that drives the separation roller 60 is stopped, and the electric motor 36 that drives the feeding belt 54 is reversely driven, and is stopped by contacting the stop pin 73 by the driving of the feeding belt 54 in the direction opposite to the feeding direction. The coin is slightly returned so that the load at the time of actuation of the stop pin 73 at the time of feeding the coin next time is eliminated.

The coins fed out from the coin-type coin storing and feeding section 51 are located at one lower portion of the front surface of the machine body 1 by the inclined guide surface 75 of the feeding coin guiding section 76 provided in the lower front surface of the machine body 1. Collected.

[0045]

According to the present invention, the coins fed by the feeding belt are guided by the pair of coin guiding members and are conveyed in surface contact with the belt surface of the feeding belt, and the peripheral edges of the coins are conveyed. Part of the coin is disengaged from one side edge of the feeding belt, and the optical axis passes through the gap formed between the coin guide member on one side and the one side edge of the feeding belt. Since the detection can be performed in a stable state where the belt is in contact with the belt surface and is conveyed, erroneous detection does not occur, and the coin can be detected reliably.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view showing an embodiment of a coin storing and feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view of the same coin passage portion.

FIG. 3 is a sectional side view of the same coin type coin storing and feeding unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same coin storing and feeding device.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory plan view of a counting unit of the same coin type coin storing and feeding unit.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory plan view showing the same coin-separated state.

FIG. 7 is a timing diagram of the same coin type coin storing and feeding unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 52 Coin compartment 54 Delivery belt 60 Separation roller 65 Optical sensor 66,67 Coin guide member 69 Optical axis 70 Gap

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A coin storage part for storing coins in a non-aligned state, a feeding belt which forms at least a part of a bottom surface of the coin storage part and which conveys and feeds coins, and an upper part on the feeding side of the feeding belt. In the area, a separation roller is formed opposite to the belt surface with a gap that allows one coin to pass, and a week surface of the coin that is provided on both sides of the delivery belt in the downstream area of the separation roller. And a pair of coin guide members for guiding the coin to a position where a part of the peripheral edge of the coin is out of one side edge of the payout belt in a state where the coin is conveyed while contacting the belt surface of the payout belt. A gap formed between the coin guide member on one side and the one side edge of the feeding belt at a position where a part of the peripheral edge of the coin guided by the coin guide member deviates from the one side edge of the feeding belt, and this gap. The optical axis passes through the Coin storage and dispensing device which is characterized in that it comprises an optical sensor for detecting a state in which the coins This coin being transported in surface contact with the belt surface of the feeding belt.