JPH05233914A - Coin sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a coin sorter whose sorting condition can be set even without providing any special input terminal. CONSTITUTION:When a coin is thrown in, the coin is sorted by collating the value of a signal obtained by measuring the characteristic of the inspected coin by coin measuring sensors 5, 6 with a criterion value stored in a memory 19. This criterion value stored in the memory 19 is determined by the data processing of a computer 23 by introducing measured values obtained by the coin measuring sensors 5, 6 when a connector 22 is connected to the computer 23 and several adequate coins are thrown into the coin sorter 1. At the time other than the time of setting the criterion value, the special sorting condition can be set in the coin sorter 1 by inserting a short harness 25 into the connector 22.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin sorting device used in a vending machine or the like, and in particular, by measuring the characteristics of coins and comparing the signal value and the judgment value obtained thereby, Coin sorting device for determining suitability

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional technique of such a coin sorting device, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59-11154. This is to measure the characteristics of coins with a coin measuring sensor, determine the appropriateness of coins by comparing the signals obtained with the judgment values stored in memory, and drive the sorting gate according to the result. It is for selecting coins. The determination value in this case is determined based on the measurement value obtained by the coin measurement sensor when a true coin is actually inserted into the device and is stored in the memory.

[0003]

However, since such a coin sorting apparatus does not sort coins by mechanical sorting, the sorting conditions can be changed from the outside. For example, when using a coin sorter for a vending machine, depending on the price of the product to be sold by the vending machine, even if the input coin is appropriate, if it accepts that type of coin, There may be a case where the prepared change is quickly lost and sales efficiency decreases.
Therefore, it is necessary for the user of the vending machine to have a function of arbitrarily setting sorting conditions such as returning coins of a specific type.

However, in order for the user of the vending machine to arbitrarily set the selection conditions, a special input terminal must be provided, and if there are a plurality of selection conditions, an input terminal corresponding to them is required. However, there is a problem that the size increases.

From the above point of view, the present invention provides a coin sorting apparatus capable of setting sorting conditions without providing a special input terminal.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, a coin sorting device according to the present invention measures the characteristics of an inspected coin with a coin measuring sensor, and obtains a signal value and a judgment value obtained thereby. In a coin sorting device that sorts coins by matching, using the terminal used for connection with an external device when setting the judgment value in the coin sorting device, it is possible to set the conditions for coin sorting I have to.

[0007]

The coin sorting device sorts coins by checking the value of the signal obtained by measuring the characteristics of the test coin by the coin measuring sensor when the coin is inserted and the judgment value. The connection terminal is a terminal that is connected to an external device at the time of setting at the time of determination, but the selection condition can be set by using this connection terminal at the time of not setting.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the structure of a coin sorting device 1, in which a coin passage 3 communicating with a coin slot 2 is provided with a pair of side walls 8 which can be opened and closed.
It is formed by closing (only one shown). Then, the characteristics of the coin rolling on the coin rail 4 and passing through the coin passage 3 are measured by the coin measuring sensors 5 and 6 arranged on the side walls, and the appropriateness of the coin is determined based on the measurement result. At the end of the coin rail 4, a sorting gate 7 for receiving or returning rolling coins is provided, and normally, the coins protrude from the side wall 8 to return the coins.
It leads to 1. Therefore, coin rail 4
When the coins rolling in the counter are counterfeit coins, the sorting gate 7 is maintained in the protruding state and the coins are returned to the return passage 11
Will be returned through. On the other hand, if the coin is a true coin, the sorting gate 7 exits, and the coin is introduced into the true coin passage 9. Below the sorting gate 7, there is further provided a sorting gate 10 for sorting coins introduced into the true coin passage 9 according to their denominations, and coins introduced into the true coin passage 9 are sorted according to their type. By the operation of the gate 10, the coin sorting device 1
It is designed to be guided to a predetermined coin pipe (not shown) for each type of coin provided in the lower part of the.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the selection processing circuit. The coin measuring sensor 5 includes a transmitting coil 5A and a receiving coil 5B connected to an oscillator 12, and the receiving coil 5B performs amplification and detection. It is connected to the detecting unit 13. In this coin measuring sensor 5, a coin is a transmitting coil 5
When passing between A and the receiving coil 5B, fluctuations in the induced voltage in the receiving coil 5B based on the amount of magnetic flux shielded by the A produce a measured output that is characteristic of the coin.

In the coin measuring sensor 6, oscillation coils 6A and 6B connected in series and in phase are connected to an oscillator 14, and the oscillator 14 is connected to a detector 15 which performs amplification and detection. In this coin measuring sensor 6, when a conductor such as a coin passes between the pair of oscillation coils 6A and 6B, the circuit resistance of the oscillator 14 increases and the amplitude of the output signal decreases. , Produces a measurement output that is characteristic of the coin.

The detection unit 13 and the detection unit 15 are connected to the A / D conversion device 17 via the switching device 16, and the switching device 16 is controlled by the determination device 18 to detect the signals output from the detection units 6 and 24. Either of them is output to the A / D converter 17. The A / D conversion device 17 converts the analog voltage value output from the switching device into a digital value, and converts it into a CPU.
Is output to the determination device 18 configured by.

The judgment device 18 is normally arranged so that the signal from the detection section 6 is introduced through the A / D conversion device 17.
6 is controlled, and when the output voltage V ₁ (a in FIG. 3) of the detection unit 13 becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined level L, it is determined that a coin has been inserted and is approaching the coin measurement sensor 5. When the determination device 18 detects the maximum drop value of the output voltage V ₁ ,
The maximum falling value is compared with the first determination value stored in the memory 19 to determine the appropriateness and type of the coin.
It should be noted that the memory 19 has a first determination value that is compared with a signal value obtained by measuring the characteristics of the inspection coin by the coin measurement sensor 5, and a signal obtained by measuring the characteristics of the inspection coin by the coin measurement sensor 6. The second judgment value to be compared with the value of is stored.

Next, the judgment device 18 controls the switching device 16 so that the signal of the detection portion 15 is introduced through the A / D conversion device 17, so that the output voltage V ₂ of the detection portion 15 (see FIG. )
When the maximum fall value of is detected, this maximum fall value and memory 1
The second judgment value stored in 9 is collated to judge the appropriateness and type of this coin. Then, in any of the collations, if the types of coins match, it is determined that the coin is a true coin, and the data indicating the denomination is output to the sorting gate drive device 20 and the coin signal output device 21. .. Thereby, the sorting gate driving device 20 controls the driving of the sorting gates 7 and 9 according to the type, and introduces the inspection coin rolling on the coin rail 4 into the corresponding coin pipe.

The first and second determination values are determined based on the measurement values obtained by the coin measurement sensors 5 and 6 of the coin sorting device 1 when a genuine coin is inserted into each coin sorting device 1. It is adapted to be stored in the memory 19. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, several coins of the same kind that are in circulation are randomly selected and inserted into the coin sorting device 1, whereby the output voltage V detected by the determination device 18 for each coin. The maximum falling value of _{1 and} the maximum falling value of the output voltage V ₂ are processed by the computer 23 to obtain an allowable range from the normal distribution, and the upper limit value and the lower limit value of each allowable range are the first value of the denomination. The second judgment value is written in the memory 19 by the memory writer 27.

Therefore, the coin sorting apparatus 1 is the computer 2
3, the determination device 18 has six input / output ports P1 to P6 through the E, A, B, C, D and GND terminals of the connector, and the computer 23. When the memory 19 is connected to the memory writer 24 and the memory 19 is set in the memory writer-24, the judgment value writing operation to the memory 19 is performed. In this case, the determination device 18 responds to the data transmission request from the computer 23 by measuring the coin measurement data from the input / output ports P2 to P5.
That is, the maximum falling value of the output voltage V _{1 and} the maximum falling value of the output voltage V ₂ are sequentially output to the computer 23. When the writing is completed, the memory 19 is moved to the coin sorting device 1
Then, the setting of the judgment value is completed by releasing the connection with the computer 23 and disconnecting from the computer 23.

When the judgment value is set, the input / output port P
1 to P6 and the connector 22 are not used. The present invention is
At this time, the input / output ports P1 to P6 and the connector 22 are used to set the condition for coin selection, which is performed by the user of the vending machine by shorting a predetermined terminal of the connector 22. Can be set. The coin selection condition is, for example, that a specific type of coin is returned even if it is appropriate. When the determination device determines that the inserted coin is appropriate, the input / output port P1
It is configured to determine whether or not this inspection coin is a coin that can be accepted by looking at the signal states of ~ P6. And
When it is determined that the coin is prohibited from being accepted in the sorting condition, the data indicating the denomination of the coin is not output to the sorting gate drive device 20 and the coin signal output device 21, so that the acceptance is prohibited. The set coins will be returned.

To short the terminals of the connector 22, a short harness 25 is used as shown in FIG. 5. When the short harness 25 is inserted into the connector 22, the E terminal is connected to GND. By configuring the short harness 25 as described above, the determination device 18 can determine whether or not the short harness 25 is inserted. For example, the E terminal of the connector 22 is connected to GND, and one of the terminals A, B, corresponding to each denomination is connected.
By connecting C and D to GND, it is possible to set any denomination as an unacceptable coin. In the short harness 25 shown in FIG. 2, the terminals E and A are connected to the GND when it is inserted into the connector 22, so that coins of denomination a can be set as prohibited coins. it can.

The operation of the determination device 18 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. First, in step S1, the determination device 18 checks the level of the port P1. In this case, when the short harness 25 is inserted into the connector 22, the level of the port P1 is low, and the determination device 18 performs the process of step S2. In step S2, the determination device 18 checks the level of the port P2, and if it is low level, step S3.
Proceed to and set the acceptance prohibition flag for type a coins to flag memory 2
If it is set to 6, and if it is at a high level, the process proceeds to step S4 to reset the acceptance prohibition flag of the type a coin in the flag memory 26.

In the next step S5, the judging device 1
8 checks the level of the port P3, and if it is a low level, the process proceeds to step S6 to set the acceptance prohibition flag of the type b coin in the flag memory 26, and if it is a high level, the process proceeds to step S7. The acceptance prohibition flag of 26 type b coins is reset.

In the next step S8, the judging device 1
8 checks the level of the port P4, and if it is a low level, the process proceeds to step S9 to set the acceptance prohibition flag of the c-type coin in the flag memory 26, and if it is a high level, the process proceeds to step S10. The acceptance prohibition flag of 26 type c coins is reset.

In the next step S11, the judging device 18 checks the level of the port P5, and if it is a low level, the process proceeds to step S12 to set the acceptance prohibition flag of the d type coin in the flag memory 26, On the other hand, if the level is high, the process proceeds to step S13 to reset the acceptance prohibition flag of the d type coin in the flag memory 26.

Then, when the setting and resetting of the acceptance prohibition flag by the short harness 25 are completed, the process proceeds to another process.
Selects based on the acceptance prohibition flag of the flag memory 26.

However, if the shortness 25 is not inserted in the connector 22 and the level of the port P1 is high, the judging device 18 performs the processing of step S14. In this step S14, all acceptance prohibition flags in the flag memory are reset. Therefore,
When the short harness 25 is removed, the determination device 18 performs the sorting process in the state where no special sorting condition is set.

In the next step S15, the port P
It is checked whether 1 to P6 are all at the high level, and if they are at the high level, the process proceeds to other processing. However, when the computer 23 is connected, the computer 23 sends a command requesting data transmission to the ports P2 to P5.
This command causes at least one of ports P2 to P5 to go low. Therefore, when the computer 23 is connected, the determination device 18 performs the process of step S16, and the determination device 18 transmits the measurement data of coins from the input / output ports P2 to P5 to the computer 23, and then proceeds to another process. ..

[0025]

According to the present invention, since the condition for coin selection can be set by using the terminal connected to the external device when setting the judgment value, the coin selection device can be newly added without increasing the number of terminals. Various functions can be added.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a coin sorting device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a coin sorting device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an output waveform of a coin measuring sensor.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing setting of judgment values in a coin sorting device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing setting of coin sorting conditions in a coin sorting device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating setting of coin selection conditions.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation in a setting mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Coin sorter S ₁ , S ₂ Coin measurement sensor 18 Judgment device 22 Connector

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A coin sorting device that sorts coins by measuring the characteristics of an inspection coin with a coin measuring sensor and matching the value of the signal obtained thereby with a judgment value.
A coin sorting apparatus, wherein the coin sorting condition can be set by using a terminal used for connection with an external device when the judgment value is set in the coin sorting apparatus.