EP0092733A1 - Coin magazine for a paying system with collecting and dispensing of money - Google Patents

Abstract

The coin magazine consists of a series of coin cells arranged side by side along a path inclined downwards from an intake corridor (3) opening onto the first of the cells. Each of these is equipped with a lower coin retention member (5) comprising a flap (12) mounted laterally pivotably on one side of the cell and having a lower control part (12a, 12b, 12c) normally projecting into the cell above the retaining member (5), and an upper part (12e) normally extending out of the cell and intended for forming a member for closing access to the cell in response to the tilting of the lower part of the flap by a coin falling into the cell. The upper part forms a retaining member (12e) constituting an inclined plane element of a corridor for the travel of the coins above the cells already occupied, leading to an overflow when the magazine is full. The members (5) for retaining the coins in the cells are subjected individually to a retraction control relative to the cell, ensuring the selective discharge of the coins into a lower exit corridor (17) for the purpose of the collection or dispensing of change. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to automatic coin-operated systems or machines which are capable of collecting and returning money according to a requested service or product delivered. Advanced systems of this kind include a coin store which must be managed to track the payment (coins introduced may be of several types defined, tested and determined in value at entry) and to then proceed to collection and to the change of money depending on the cost of the service or product provided. Such management is now easily programmable using a microprocessor processing the input and value information of the parts, state of the store, cost of the service or product, and determination of the parts to be collected and of those to be returned to the fairest.

The realization of a store receiving coins of several types having to circulate without changing plan, to be identified in value and position and which can then be evacuated in a selective way for the purposes of collection or return of change, is difficult to ensure so both simple and reliable.

The object of the present invention is to satisfy these two conditions in the first place.

It essentially has for this purpose a coin store for payment system, with collection and return of money, comprising an input selector and identification of coins of several types supplying the store by a corridor of admission one to one of the identified pieces, said store comprising means for selective removal of the pieces from the store for the purpose of collecting or returning change, and being characterized in that it consists of a series of parts cells arranged side by side in a downward inclined path from the inlet passage leading to the first of the cells, each of them being provided with a lower retaining member parts and comprising a flap mounted pivoting laterally on one side of the cell and having a lower control part normally projecting into the cell above said retaining member and an upper part extending normally out of the cell and intended to form a member for closing the access to the cell in response to the tilting of the lower part of the flap by a part falling into the cell, said upper part forming a retaining member constituting an inclined plane element of a circulation corridor for the parts above the already occupied cells, leading to an overflow when the magazine is full, and said parts retaining members in the cells being individually subjected to an erase command with respect to the cell ensuring the selective evacuation of coins in an exit corridor for the purpose of collecting or returning change.

This solution also lends itself very well to operating with low energy, which can in particular, in the appropriate application of the invention to pay telephones, borrow its energy from the telephone line. Preferably then, the erasing control of each retaining member is ensured by means of an electromagnet with impulse control and retention by remanence upon erasing of said member, and with demagnetization by impulse in opposite directions _. for the return of said member to the retaining position maintained by spring, the energy necessary for the operation of the store is also only a matter of gravity.

Such an embodiment also lends itself very well to making visible the store and the parts which are already present there and moreover well maintained in their cells according to the possible return of money expected, without the need for a display of the stock in store.

• la fig. 1 est une vue en élévation de face de quatre alvéoles successifs d'un magasin de pièces de monnaie selon l'invention;
• la fig. 2 est une vue de détail suivant IIII de la fig. 1;
• la fig. 3 est une vue de côté d'un alvéole de pièce avec coupe transversale partielle médiane d'un volet et de la paroi adjacente, le volet et organe de retenue étant en position d'attente de réception d'une pièce;
• la fig. 4 est une vue en élévation de dos d'un alvéole de pièce, suivant la flèche IV de la fig. 3;
• la fig. 5 est une vue analogue à la fig. 3 mais avec une pièce de monnaie dans l'alvéole;
• la fig. 6 est une vue analogue à la précédente de l'état du système lors de l'évacuation de la pièce.

Other aspects of the invention will also appear in the following description of an embodiment of such a store, here given by way of example only, and with reference to the appended drawing in which:

• fig. 1 is a front elevation view of four successive cells of a coin store according to the invention;
• fig. 2 is a detail view along IIII of FIG. 1;
• fig. 3 is a side view of a part cell with a partial median cross-section of a flap and the adjacent wall, the flap and retaining member being in the waiting position for receiving a part;
• fig. 4 is a rear elevation view of a part cell, according to arrow IV of FIG. 3;
• fig. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but with a coin in the cell;
• fig. 6 is a view similar to the previous of the state of the system during the evacuation of the part.

The coin store shown in the drawing is made up of two parallel plates 1 and 2, assembled and kept spaced apart with respect to each other by means of various spacers, so as to leave between them more than the thickness of the thickest coin intended to enter the store. The plate 1, made of transparent material, is intended to face a window of the device fitted to such a store. The plate 2 is an opaque plate, serving as a support on its rear face to the active organs of the store, as well as to a printed power supply and electrical control circuit as will be seen below.

The entrance to the store is constituted by an inlet corridor 3 one by one of the various parts introduced into the device. This corridor is supplied by the output of a prior identification selector of the pieces providing rejection or recognized value information for each piece, this selector possibly being of any known type not falling within the scope of the present invention.

The corridor 3 is here delimited by two substantially vertical spacers 3a, 3b connected to the outlet of said selector not shown and spaced to allow the admitted part of larger planned diameter to pass.

The store itself consists of a series of cells formed between the two plates 1 and 2, following a downward inclined path from the first cell located below and at the exit of the corridor 3, these cells being partitioned by spacers 4 here provided with lateral lugs 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d engaged in corresponding holes of the plates. These spacers are spaced so as to be able to receive the admitted part of the largest planned diameter, such as that P which occupies the first cell located under the passage 3 in FIG. 1.

For each cell is provided a lower retaining member of the stored part, consisting of two fingers 5 penetrating between the plates through an opening 6 of the plate 2. These two fingers 5 are formed by the curved ends of a fork 7 integral with the armature 8a of an electromagnet 8, fixed on a support ramp at a square 9 common to all the electromagnets of the cells of the store and fixed by screws at 10 on the plate 2. The armature 8a is normally biased by a tension spring 11 in a position for which the retaining fingers 5 abut against the plate 1, that is to say that they are normally in the retaining position of any part having entered the 'cell considered, this waiting state of a part being illustrated in fig _- 3.

The access of each cell is controlled using a tilting flap designated by 12 as a whole, mounted pivoting laterally on the back of the plate 2, on an axis 13 engaged in corresponding holes of the lugs 4d of the spacers 4, this axis here being common to all the flaps 12 of the cells of the store. Each flap has a lower part with several branches 12a, 12b, 12c which normally project between the plates, through the opening 6 of the plate 2, in an inclined position towards the plate 1 and pressing against it, above the fingers 5. Each flap has an upper part 12b with a flange 12th turning towards the plates, and normally extending out of the cell (see fig. 3) but intended to form an access closure member of the cell by entering between the plates through a corresponding opening 14 of the plate 2, when a part _P caused to fall into the cell has caused the lower part of the flap 12 to tilt as illustrated in FIG. 5. Note that the rest and waiting position of the flap 12 illustrated in FIG. 3 is provided by means of a support blade 12f cut from the shutter to urge it, as a result of its support on the plate 2 and an initial return force, in the rest position of FIG. 3 maintained by the preponderant gravity of the upper part of the flap relative to its lower part. The ratio of the lever arms of the lower and upper parts of the flap is such that for a part of the smallest admitted thickness, such as that shown in FIG. 5, the re-entrant edge 12e closes well against the plate 1 the access of the cell. The branches 12a, 12b, 12c of the lower part of the flap preferably have a certain flexibility, leaving the thicker parts also to come into abutment in the stopped position on the retaining fingers 5 in the closed access position of the cell. .

It will already be understood that the store is automatically filled in the order of the free cells at the arrival of each piece, the re-entrant edge 12th of the flap of each cell containing a coin acting as an inclined rolling plane or sliding towards the next cell. When all the cells are occupied by a room, the re-entrant edges 12e of their flaps together form an inclined return path (arrow 15) from any excess room towards a not shown overflow corridor, communicating with a return waste 'user. The latter also visually perceives the partial filling state of the cells resulting from the management of the store before he begins to supply it with coins for the service he desires.

Each part identified by the selector then admitted into a cell in the store is subject to a location and presence control, here ensured by the way of an electrical contact being established between each blade 12f and a patch 16 forming part of a printed circuit on the plate 2, which for this purpose comprises an individual track P1 per pad 16 and a track C1 with which is welded in electrical contact the lug 4d of a cell spacer which constitutes a common to all the flaps 12, by their electrical contact with the axis 13 that they have in common. Selective evacuation from the store, for the purpose of collecting or returning change at the end of service, is here ensured by temporary excitation of the electromagnet (s) of the cells concerned, which has the effect for each of them to bring their reinforcement in bonding state and erase the retaining fingers 5 at the base of the cell, so that the part concerned can fall by gravity. It then encounters in its fall an inclined rolling or sliding path 17 directing it (arrow 18) towards the exit of the store, followed by a usual switch not shown intended to orient it in a corridor leading to its collection or a corridor leading to the change money holder, depending on whether it is a cash-in or money-back operation after service.

It will be noted that for the sake of energy saving, an afterglow electromagnet is advantageously used here, having to be energized on call only temporarily and therefore being maintained by remanence in the state shown in FIG. 6, during the part evacuation phase. It will also be noted that the fork 7 with fingers 5 cooperates during the excitation of the electromagnet with a rear bar 12g of the lower part of the flap, in order to impose the withdrawal of the latter out of the cell as illustrated in fig. 6, in order to guarantee that the coin present in the cell is well evacuated without any influence of the flap on it.

After the evacuation phase, the active organs of each cell concerned are brought back to their initial state illustrated in FIG. 3, by demagnetization of the corresponding electromagnet, by sending it a pulse of opposite polarity to that of the aforementioned excitation. This electrical supply of the electromagnets is here ensured as seen for the cell of FIG. 4, by way of an individual electric track dual El printed on the plate and another printed track C2 common to all the electromagnets, leading to connection points on the plate 2 to which the supply conductors 19, 20 of the two terminals of the two are directly soldered winding of the electromagnet. The use of plate 2 as a printed circuit support greatly reduces any wiring on the back of the store and practically eliminates any risk of interference between the active organs of the store and the electrical conductors used for the command and management control of this store. .

Of course many variants can be imagined without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (6)

1. Coin magazine for payment system, with collection and return of coins, comprising an input selector and identification of coins of several types supplying the magazine by an inlet passage one by one of the coins identified, said magazine comprising means for selective removal of coins from the magazine for the purpose of collecting or returning change, characterized in that this magazine consists of a series of cells of coins arranged side by side in a path inclined downward from said inlet passage (3) leading to the first of said cells, each of them being provided with a lower retaining member (5) for the parts and comprising a flap (12) mounted pivotally laterally on one side of the cell and having a lower control part (12a, 12b, 12c) normally projecting in the cell above said retaining member (5) and an upper part (12e) extending normally out of the cell and designed to form an access closure member of the cell in response to the tilting of the lower part of the shutter by a part falling into the cell, said upper part forming a retaining member (12e) constituting an element of inclined plane of a circulation corridor for the parts above the already occupied cells leading to an overflow when the magazine is full, and said retaining members (5) for the parts in the cells being individually subjected to an erase command (8, 8a ) with respect to the cell ensuring the selective evacuation of the coins in a lower exit corridor for the purpose of collecting or returning change. 2. Store according to claim 1, characterized in that the erasing control of each retaining member (5) is provided by means of an electromagnet (8, 8a) with pulse control and retention by remanence erasing said member and demagnetizing by impulse in the opposite direction for the return of said member to its retaining position held by spring. 3. Store according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said retaining member cooperates unidirectionally with the lower part of the flap to force the erasure of the latter at the same time as its own erasure in response to the command to evacuate a room. 4. Store according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the upper part of each flap forms a leaf spring bearing on the side wall of the corresponding cell, urging it into a tilting and opening position inlet of the cell normally held by gravity. 5. Store according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises a side plate common to the cells formed in the form of a printed circuit comprising for each component a portion of circuit with electrical contact closed with this last in its closed position, taking the place of part presence contact in the cell. 6. Store according to claim 5, characterized in that the printed circuit also includes individual and common supply tracks of the electromagnets intended to be electrically connected to the terminals of the latter.

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