JPH0512854Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) This invention collects the coins put into each vending machine using a conveyor, and lifts the coins loaded in a bucket to a high place using an elevator. This invention relates to a transfer mechanism in an automatic coin feeding device that reverses the coins and feeds the coins that have fallen into a chute to a predetermined location.

(Prior art) A conventional device of this type has a circulation box and a money exchange machine on both sides of a plurality of vending machines arranged side by side, and coins collected from each vending machine for change and for direct collection are collected from each vending machine. transported to the circulation box,
2. Description of the Related Art A group management device for a vending machine is known in which coins for exchange are conveyed to an exchange machine. The structure of the exchange machine is that the coins used for exchange are transported by a collection conveyor, are fed into a bucket at the lower end of the elevator via a bucket supply chute, and then
A shutter is provided at the bottom of the supply chute. The electrical circuit associated with this elevator is such that the upper limit of coins loaded on the bucket is detected by a photoelectric detector, and its fully loaded detection output sets the flip-flop, the shutter closes the replenishment chute, and the set output of the flip-flop is used to set the flip-flop. The motor raises the bucket, and when the bucket reaches the top position, the top positioning microswitch resets the flip-flop and stops the motor. Thereafter, the tipping mechanism operates to lower the bucket, which has completed supplying coins to the supply hopper, to the lower end position.
Stop with the micro switch for lower end positioning. This operation is repeated.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional device described above, when the output detects the full load of coins loaded in the bucket at the lower end of the elevator, the shutter provided at the bottom of the bucket replenishment chute blocks the replenishment chute. The elevator motor raises the bucket, but there is no means to check that the shutter is blocked, so if a coin is caught in the shutter, or if the bucket is raised with the coin still stuck, the coin can be removed from the gap. Problems such as leakage and incomplete collection of leaked coins were pointed out.

The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned problems.The shutter is equipped with an actuator, and when the shutter completely closes the discharge port of the hopper, a confirmation switch is installed in the transfer gutter. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bucket transport control mechanism for a coin supply device, which constitutes a bucket transport control means based on a detection signal from a confirmation switch that the shutter completely closes the discharge port.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The transfer mechanism in the automatic coin feeding device of the present invention includes a conveyor that collects coins from each vending machine,
The bucket cart is equipped with a bucket for loading collected coins and an elevator for lifting the bucket. An automatic coin feeding device for transporting coins to a location, the hopper receiving coins from the conveyor and discharging the coins to a transfer gutter that allows the coins to flow down into the bucket; a shutter that opens and closes a coin discharge port of the hopper; A confirmation switch installed in the transfer gutter,
an actuator that presses the confirmation switch when the shutter is closed, and an upper limit switch that is provided at a position where the switch actuator comes into contact when the bucket is raised to a predetermined position and switches the elevator from raising the bucket to lowering; An upper locking part is disposed near the upper limit switch, and an upper locking part is arranged to lock the upper part of the bucket tote which is being raised to invert the bucket, and a lower locking part is to restore the bucket from being reversed, and the lower bucket tot is lowered to a predetermined position. a lower limit switch provided at a position where the switch actuator comes into contact when the switch actuator comes into contact; a means for stopping the bucket at a predetermined position according to the switch signal; A solenoid that starts feeding, a bucket standby timer, and a time-up signal of the bucket standby timer are input and time-set, and a command is given to temporarily stop the conveyor that feeds coins into the hopper, and the time-up signal causes the conveyor to temporarily stop. It also includes a conveyor stop timer that commands the shutter to be closed by canceling the excitation of the solenoid at the same time as the shutter is released, and when the shutter is closed, the conveyor is temporarily stopped to block the flow of coins and remove the remaining coins on the hopper. A timer-coupled drive means that sweeps the shutter and closes the shutter, and when the solenoid is demagnetized by the signal commanding the shutter closing and the shutter completely closes the hopper outlet, the actuator switches a confirmation switch to start the elevator. The system is equipped with bucket transport control means.

(Function) In the transfer mechanism of the automatic coin supply device of this invention, the coins collected from each vending machine by the conveyor are loaded onto a bucket, the bucket is lifted and turned over, and the coins that have fallen into the chute are transported. The coins collected by the conveyor fall into a hopper, and there is a shutter at the outlet of the hopper that opens and closes the coin passage, and when the solenoid is energized and the shutter is open, the transfer gutter is opened. Then, the bucket wait timer is set, and after the set bucket wait time has elapsed, the conveyor stop timer is set and the conveyor is temporarily stopped, so coins no longer fall from the conveyor and coins are not ejected. This prevents coins from being caught in the shutter that blocks the outlet. Since the elevator is activated by the output signal of the confirmation switch pressed by the actuator when the shutter completely closes the discharge port, leakage of coins from the shutter due to coins being caught is prevented.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the bucket transport control mechanism of the coin feeding device of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are side views for explaining the operation of the bucket, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bucket.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control circuit, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when the confirmation switch is inoperative, and FIG. 7 is an expanded connection diagram of the control circuit.

1 is fixed to the mounting frame 1a with an electromagnetic solenoid,
One end of the lever 2 is attached to the tip shaft 3 of the plunger 1b, which is attracted by electricity, and a shutter 6 is attached to the other end of the lever 2.
A rear end shaft 4 is rotatably supported, and a shutter 6 for opening and closing the discharge port 9a of the hopper 9 is rotatably supported on a pivot shaft 5 of the mounting frame 1a.

The shutter 6 constantly pushes down the front part with a spring 7,
Although it is biased in the direction of closing the discharge port 9a,
Plunger 1 is attracted by energization of solenoid 1
The tip shaft 3 of b acts in conjunction with the connected lever 2 to pull down the rear end shaft 4 of the shutter 6, so the shutter 6 moves forward against the biasing force of the spring 7 with the pivot 5 as a fulcrum. part to open the discharge port 9a. Further, an actuator 8 for switching a confirmation switch 10 is attached to the side surface of the shutter 6.

The hopper 9 receives coins falling from the conveyor belt 14 of the conveyor 13, and the coins slide down the inclined bottom surface until they reach the bucket 15 from the transfer gutter 11 via the discharge port 9a. The discharge port 9a is normally closed by a shutter 6 (see FIG. 2).

A confirmation switch 10 is provided on the side of the transfer gutter 11, and is switched by being pressed by an actuator 8 on the side of the shutter 6 when the shutter 6 completely closes the discharge port 11. The output signal of the confirmation switch 10 is input to the control circuit of the control box 24, and its output starts the elevator 18 and lifts the bucket 15 to a higher location.

A switch actuator 16 provided on the upper side of the bucket 15 allows the bucket 15, which is lifted by the wire 19 of the elevator 18, to move to the elevator 18.
When it comes into contact with the upper limit switch 23, the bucket 15 descends, and when it comes down and comes into contact with the lower limit switch 17, the bucket 15 stops.

20 is a chute, 21 is an upper locking part, and 22 is a lower locking part. When the upper part of the bucket cart 15 to be lifted is locked in the upper locking part 21, it is reversed and the bucket cart 1 is turned over.
The coins in 5 fall into the chute 20, and when the upper part of the descending bucket 15 is locked by the lower locking part 22, the coins return from being inverted.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 7.

First, when the power is turned on, the brake MB is energized from the normally closed contact (hereinafter referred to as the b contact) of the relay R3, and the brake MB of the motor M of the elevator 18 is activated.
At the same time, the lead wire of the motor M connected to the b contact of the relay R1 is energized to [white CCW], and the motor M rotates forward and winds up the wire 19, causing the bucket 15 to rise. ).

Next, the motor K of the conveyor 13 is energized from the b contact of the relay R4, and the coin conveyor belt 14 is operated.

When the bucket 15 rises during the driving operation, the actuator 16 comes into contact with the upper limit switch 23, and the upper limit switch 23 is a normally open contact (hereinafter referred to as
(referred to as the a contact) is closed, and the relay R1 is energized from the b contact of the relay R2. The a contact of relay R1 connected in parallel to upper limit switch 23 forms a self-holding circuit of relay R1. At this time Bucket 15
The upper limit switch 23 is reset because its upper part is locked by the upper locking part 21 and reversed, and the coin is thrown into the chute 20, but the relay R1 is kept energized by the self-holding circuit. .

As mentioned above, when relay R1 is energized, b of relay R1
Since the contact is released and the a contact is closed, the lead wire of the motor M switches from [white CCW] to [gray CW], the direction of rotation of the motor M is reversed, and the wire 19 is wound down, so the bucket 15 starts to descend. do. At this time, the upper part of the bucket bag 15 is locked by the lower locking part 22, and the bucket bag 15 is restored from the reversing operation.

When the bucket 15 is lowered, the actuator 16 of the bucket 15 comes into contact with the lower limit switch 17. The a contact of the lower limit switch 17 is closed, and the lower limit switch 17 is energized and operated as follows.

B. Energize relay R2 and switch the upper limit switch 2
3 and relay R1, and the b contact of relay R2 is opened to release the self-holding of relay R1.

(b) Excite relay R3 from the b contact of timer T2, open the b contact of relay R3 provided before the motor M and brake MB, and stop energizing the motor M and brake MB.

C Solenoid 1 (7th
(abbreviated as SOL in the figure) is energized, the solenoid 1 is attracted, and the shutter 6 is opened.

2) A bucket standby timer (hereinafter abbreviated as timer T1) is excited, and a waiting time t1 until coins are loaded into the bucket 15 is set. This bucket waiting time t1 can be set to any time.

E Here, when timer T1 times up,
The a contact of timer T1 closes and excites the conveyor stop timer (hereinafter abbreviated as timer T2),
The set time t2 is set.

f When timer T2 times up, timer T
Relay R4 is excited by the b contact of No. 2, and relay R4 at the front stage of belt motor K of conveyor 13 is excited.
Since the b contact of the belt 14 is opened, the belt 14 is stopped.

The timer T2 sets the operation pause time t2 of the belt 14 and can be set to any desired time.
In this embodiment, the operation downtime t2 is set to several seconds until the remaining coins in the hopper 9 have completely passed through the discharge port 9a.

Here, when timer T2 times up,
The b contact of timer T2 in the preceding stage of relay R3 is opened. This is the operation before the 2-input NAND logic circuit (shown in FIG. 7) is satisfied and the relay R3 is demagnetized when the confirmation switch 10 is opened.

H. The a contact of timer T2 closes and energizes relay R5, and the b contact of relay R5 in the previous stage of solenoid 1 is opened, so solenoid 1 is demagnetized.
Shutter 6 closes.

Since the b contact of timer T2 is opened and relay R4 is demagnetized, the b contact of relay R4 in the front stage of belt motor K is restored, and at the same time belt motor K is started, the set time t3 of alarm timer T3 is is set.

In the above operations A to D, the bucket 15 descends,
When the lower limit switch 17 is reached, the bucket 15 is stopped, the shutter 6 is opened, and the conveyor belt 1 is
4, the coins are loaded from the hopper 9 into the bucket 15. The loading time is set by timer T1 (t1 time).

In the above operations, when the timer T1 times up, the conveyor belt 14 is stopped, and coins are stopped from flowing into the hopper.

In the above-mentioned operation system, a circuit is configured to close the shutter 6 and restart the conveyor belt 14 when the pause time t2 of the conveyor belt 14 of the timer T2 expires, thereby preventing coins from getting caught in the shutter 6. ing.

Here, when the shutter 6 is closed, the shutter 6
When the actuator 8 on the side presses the confirmation switch 10 provided on the transfer gutter 11,
Since the contact of confirmation switch 10 of NAND) is opened, and the b contact of timer T2 in the parallel circuit is opened by the operation of step 3, relay R3 is demagnetized, and the b contact of relay R3 is restored. The operation described above, that is, the bucket 15 loaded with coins is raised.

Here, if the confirmation switch 10 was not pressed when the shutter 6 was closed, the contact of the confirmation switch 10 would remain closed due to the operation of N, the relay R3 would not be demagnetized, and the motor M would be Without being activated, the set time t3 of the alarm timer T3 expires, the a contact of the timer T3 closes, and the alarm BZ is activated.

(Effect of the invention) The transfer mechanism in the coin automatic feeding device of this invention is a coin feeder that, when closing the shutter, temporarily stops the conveyor using a timer to wipe out the remaining coins on the hopper, and then closes the shutter. Two inputs are required: a means to prevent jamming, and a means to confirm that the shutter is completely closed, in which the actuator turns on a confirmation switch when the shutter is completely closed.
Since the bucket transport control means satisfies the NAND circuit and starts the elevator, the bucket lifts up with the coins caught in the shutter and the coins leak from the gap between the shutters, and the scattered coins are collected. Management problems such as problems with sales management due to loss, theft, etc., can be resolved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of the bucket transport control mechanism of the coin feeding device of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are side views for explaining the operation of the bucket, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bucket.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the control circuit, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when the confirmation switch is inoperative, and FIG. 7 is an expanded connection diagram of the control circuit. In the figure, 1 is a solenoid, 2 is a lever, and 6
is the shutter, 7 is the spring, 8 is the actuator, 9
is the hopper, 9a is the discharge port, 10 is the confirmation switch,
13 is a conveyor, 15 is a bucket, 17 is a lower limit switch, 18 is an elevator, 20 is a chute, 2
1 is an upper locking portion, 22 is a lower locking portion, and 23 is an upper limit switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] It is equipped with a conveyor for collecting coins from each vending machine, a bucket for loading the collected coins, and an elevator for lifting the bucket. In an automatic coin feeder, the coins are inverted at a high place, and the coins in the bucket are dropped into a chute to be conveyed to a predetermined location. A hopper for discharging coins, a shutter for opening and closing the coin discharging port of the hopper, and a confirmation switch provided in the transfer gutter;
The shutter is provided with an actuator that presses the confirmation switch when the shutter is closed, and an upper limit switch is provided at a position where the switch actuator abuts when the bucket is raised to a predetermined position and switches the bucket to lower when the elevator goes up. and an upper locking part which is disposed near the upper limit switch, and which locks the upper part of the bucket tote to be raised and reverses the bucket, and a lower locking part to restore the bucket from the inversion, and a lower locking part to restore the bucket to a predetermined position when the bucket tot is to be lowered. A lower limit switch is provided at a position where the switch actuator comes into contact when the bucket is lowered to the lower limit position, a means for stopping the bucket at a predetermined position by the switch signal, and means that is excited by the switch signal to open the shutter and stop the bucket A solenoid that starts feeding coins into the hopper, a bucket standby timer, and a time-up signal of the bucket standby timer are inputted to command a temporary stop of the conveyor that feeds coins into the hopper, and the time-up signal causes the conveyor to stop temporarily. It is equipped with a conveyor stop timer that commands to close the shutter by canceling the excitation of the solenoid at the same time as canceling the temporary stop. A timer-coupled driving means that wipes out residual coins and closes the shutter, and a signal that commands shutter closure to demagnetize the solenoid and, when the shutter completely closes the hopper outlet, an actuator switches a confirmation switch. 1. A transfer mechanism in an automatic coin supply device, characterized in that a bucket transfer control means for starting an elevator is provided.