EP0211747B1 - Assembly for conveying coins between a coin-operated apparatus and a coin-processing unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an installation for conveying coins between an automatic payment machine and a coin processing station, of the type comprising at least one self-propelled carriage capable of moving automatically between the payment machine and the treatment, this trolley being equipped with a container provided at its upper part with an inlet orifice through which the coins are introduced inside. This installation is more specifically intended for motorway toll stations, but can also be used for parking tolls, ticket machines, gaming machines, and generally in all areas where there is a collection of change. An installation of this type is described for example in US-A-3,881,573 for a banking application.

At present, automatic coin-payment acquisition machines are generally equipped with safes that the operating agents are obliged to periodically come to remove and replace them with empty safes.

Transport is carried out either by hand or with conventional handling means. This mode of intervention therefore generates bodily risks and a lack of security of the funds transported since there is, in public places, incitement to aggression. In addition, the operating cost is relatively high, in particular due to the salary of the agents responsible for collection.

A pneumatic transport system is also known which makes it possible to solve the problem by direct suction of the coins. However, this system has the disadvantage of having uninterrupted operation resulting in significant energy consumption. In addition, there is a significant wear of the parts, with production of metal filings.

The main object of the present invention is therefore to remedy these drawbacks and, to do this, it relates to an installation for conveying coins of the aforementioned type which is essentially characterized in that it also comprises at least one buffer tank placed on each payment machine and through which the coins introduced into the machine pass, this tank making it possible to temporarily retain said coins when the carriage moves towards the processing station and ensuring the direct passage of these parts towards the container of the trolley when the latter is straight under the payment method, said container comprising at its lower part a hatch whose controlled opening allows the contents of the container to be discharged at the treatment station .

Preferably, the self-propelled carriage moves on guide rails arranged inside an underground gallery.

Thanks to this set of provisions, the coins are transferred safely, without any manual intervention and at a reasonable cost, to the processing station constituted for example by the vault or local surveillance of a toll station highway.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the buffer tank is provided at its upper part with an orifice through which the coins introduced into the payment machine fall freely inside, and at its lower part with a flap the shutter, the opening of which is controlled by means of an electromagnet, in connection with the movements of the self-propelled carriage.

In addition, a conduit is advantageously placed under the buffer tank, in order to ensure the gravity transfer of the coins to the container of the carriage located below, when the shutter shutter of said tank is open.

Furthermore, the opening and closing of the container hatch is ensured by a rod animated by an alternating movement by a turntable driven in rotation by means of an electric motor, the closed position of the hatch corresponding to the point dead top of the rod.

Thanks to this arrangement, when the hatch is closed, it is impossible to open it by pulling on it and it remains closed without supply of energy, its opening being possible only through the supply of the motor.

• la figure 1 est une vue en coupe simplifiée d'une installation de convoyage de pièces de monnaie conforme à l'invention ;
• les figures 2 et 3 sont des vues à plus grande échelle du chariot automoteur équipé de son conteneur ;
• les figures 4 à 6 sont des schémas illustrant le fonctionnement du système d'ouverture de la trappe du conteneur ; et
• les figures 7 à 9 sont des schémas illustrant le fonctionnement du volet d'obturation du réservoir tampon situé sur la machine de paiement automatique.

An embodiment of the invention is described below by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

• Figure 1 is a simplified sectional view of a coin conveying installation according to the invention;
• Figures 2 and 3 are enlarged views of the self-propelled cart equipped with its container;
• Figures 4 to 6 are diagrams illustrating the operation the container hatch opening system; and
• Figures 7 to 9 are diagrams illustrating the operation of the shutter of the buffer tank located on the automatic payment machine.

The installation shown in Figure 1 aims to ensure the automatic transfer of coins acquired in a payment machine such as 1, for example part of a motorway toll station, to a processing station where they are unloaded, for example in a vault.

In accordance with the invention, this transfer is carried out by means of self-propelled carriages such as 2, each equipped with a specialized container 3 capable of receiving the coins collected by the payment machine 1. This container is provided at its upper part with an inlet orifice 4 in the form of a funnel through which the parts are introduced inside, and at its lower part of a movable hatch 5, visible in FIGS. 4 to 6, the opening of which makes it possible to discharge the contents of the container at the processing station.

Each payment machine 1 is further equipped with a buffer tank 6 which will be described in more detail below. After treatment, the parts introduced into the machine through slots or via a basket 7, as shown in the figure, fall into this buffer tank where they are likely to be temporarily retained during movement of the carriage 2.

In the particular example described here, the carriage 2 moves inside an underground gallery 8 on guide rails 9. The transfer of the parts between the buffer tank 6 of the payment machine 1 installed on the surface and the container 3 of the carriage 2 located in the underground gallery 8 is carried out through the ground by a conduit 10 equipped with a high chute 11 and a low chute 12. The precise stop of the carriage at the loading station, so that the inlet orifice 4 of the container is exactly plumb with the low chute 12, is carried out in a manner known per se by means of a fixed selector 13 cooperating with identification means carried by the carriage .

As can be seen more clearly in Figures 2 and 3, the guide rail 9 of the carriage 2 is fixed to the ceiling of the underground gallery 8 by lines 14. The rolling of the carriage on this rail is ensured by two lower roller train 15 and two upper roller train 16. Its movement is achieved by a friction wheel 17 rotated by a traction motor not shown. The friction wheel 17 is also integral with a toothed wheel 18 designed to cooperate with a rack 19 provided for this purpose in the ascending or descending parts of the path, which allows the carriage to cross relatively large slopes.

The rail 9 communicates to the carriage the energy which it receives from a fixed supply, by two insulated conducting bars 20 cooperating with wipers 21 carried by the carriage and through which the electric traction motor is supplied. The direction of movement of the carriage is determined by the polarities of the voltage applied to the bars 20 and it is thus possible to have it change direction by simply reversing these polarities.

A third insulated conductor bar 22, associated with a wiper 23, allows the exchange of orders and controls between a central control unit and the carriage, in particular the order of opening the hatch 5 of the container 3.

The carriage can be stopped, either by an external command during identity recognition by the selector 13, or by internal power cut, autonomously, by means of sensors 24 provided at the two ends of the carriage, during the encounter. an obstacle or another cart.

The loading point of the container 3, determined by the selector 13, is protected from fraudulent attacks upstream and downstream by a removable protection tunnel 25 closed by a key lock 26.

• un compartiment de stockage 27 fermé par la trappe 5 et dans lequel les pièces de monnaie tombent par l'orifice d'entrée en forme d'entonnoir 4 ;
• un compartiment 28 renfermant le mécanisme de manoeuvre de la trappe 5, fermé par une porte d'accès maintenance 29 verrouillée par une serrure à clé 30 ; et
• un compartiment 31 dans lequel est enfermé un moto-réducteur 32 actionnant le mécanisme de la trappe.

We will now describe in more detail the specialized container 3 with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. This container comprises three main compartments, namely:

• a storage compartment 27 closed by the hatch 5 and into which the coins fall through the funnel-shaped inlet orifice 4;
• a compartment 28 containing the operating mechanism of the hatch 5, closed by a maintenance access door 29 locked by a key lock 30; and
• a compartment 31 in which is enclosed a geared motor 32 actuating the hatch mechanism.

This mechanism performs, successively and in a single cycle, the opening and closing of the hatch 5 which is pivotally mounted at 33 on one of the sides of the container 3. It essentially consists of a connecting rod 34, one end of which is articulated on the hatch 5 and the other end of which is articulated on a turntable 35, mounted on the output axis 36 of the gear motor 32 and which performs one complete rotation per cycle. The rotary movement of the turntable is thus transformed by the connecting rod into an alternating movement which it communicates with the hatch 5.

Figure 4 shows the opening movement of the hatch, while Figure 5 shows the hatch in the closed position. It will be noted that this closed position corresponds to the top dead center of the connecting rod 34, so that it is impossible to open the hatch by simply pulling on it.

Maintaining the hatch in the closed position without adding energy is further improved by two specific provisions. The first consists of an ovalized bore 37 of the turntable 35, in which a bearing 38 constituting the top axis of the connecting rod moves freely. The second consists of a half-bearing 39 formed on the turntable on the side opposite the articulation axis of the connecting rod, bearing on which comes to bear a second bearing 40 fixed to the connecting rod.

Thus, when the hatch is in the closed position, any attraction exerted on it by the bottom, or even any pressure exerted by the top, automatically causes the alignment of the connecting rod with the vertical axis of the container, and like this position corresponds precisely to the top dead center of the connecting rod, the hatch remains closed. It follows that the hatch can only be opened by supplying the gear motor 32 by means of an external command transmitted to the carriage via the conductive bar 22 of the guide rail 9, which constitutes security important.

Furthermore, the closing of the hatch as well as the closing of the maintenance access door 29 are controlled by a switch 41 mounted directly on said door. A proximity sensor 42 also makes it possible to control the passage of the hatch through the open position when a magnet 43 fixed on the turntable 35 passes through the bottom point of the connecting rod, while another proximity sensor 44 allows the 'stop of the gear motor 32 when this magnet 43 passes by the high point.

As shown in Figure 3, the container 3 is hooked to the carriage 2 by means of a quick-coupling fixing plate 45 comprising at one end two symmetrical hooks 46 capable of coming to engage in two corresponding slots provided on the side of the container. At the other end, the container is held by two large locking screws 47 entering two buttonholes on the top of the container. For safety reasons, these two screws are only accessible through the maintenance door 29 which can be locked. If necessary, these two screws could also be sealed.

As for the buffer tank 6, shown in more detail in FIGS. 7 to 9, it essentially consists of a storage compartment 48, into which the coins fall freely through an upper inlet orifice 49, and which is susceptible to be closed at its lower part by a movable flap 50. A second compartment 51 contains the operating mechanism of the movable flap 50, with two electromagnets 52 and 53 respectively controlling the closing and the opening of the flap.

When it is powered, the electromagnet 52 pulls on an arm 54 articulated at 55 and the flap 50 which is integral with this arm pivots in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 8. Maintaining the flap in the closing without energy supply is provided by a bracket 56 articulated at 57, which comes to bear on the free end of the arm 54 under the action of a spring 58 connected between the bracket and the arm, in order to block this last in low position.

On the contrary, when it is the electromagnet 53 which is supplied, it pivots the bracket 56 rearwards around its articulation axis 57, thus freeing the arm 54 which then returns to the high position under the action of the spring 58, by returning the flap 50 to the open position, as shown in FIG. 7.

In this latter position, the coins introduced into the automatic payment machine 1 pass freely through the buffer tank and then fall by gravity into the container 3 of the carriage 2 stopped below, passing through the conduit 10 and the chutes 11 and 12 On the contrary, when the carriage moves towards the point of discharge into a vault, the flap 50 is closed by the electromagnet 52 and the buffer tank then temporarily retains the parts in the compartment 48, the volume of this compartment being sufficient to ensure storage of parts for said movements of the carriage.

Generally, there are several payment machines and there is one self-propelled cart per machine. The carriages then move in convoy if the installation comprises only one rail on which the different machines are arranged in series. In this case, the end of the single rail located beyond the unloading point constitutes a storage area for the carriages which have just been unloaded. After unloading, all the trolleys leave in convoy in the opposite direction to the payment machines.

The carriages can also move independently of each other on several rails, bypasses can be made in stopping stations to constitute garage tracks.

If necessary, each carriage could be assigned to several machines which would then be picked up successively.

Of course, the operation of the installation is fully or partially automated throughout the chain, thanks to commands and controls which are transmitted on electrical links connecting the central units of the automatic payment machines and the conveyor automaton to the local logic of control-command and to the central computer in the monitoring room.

Departures from the trolleys to the unloading point can be ordered at fixed time intervals, based on an estimate of the minimum filling time for a container.

However, when the payment machines count the pieces to be stored, it is possible to give departure orders according to the fillings and according to the mode of transport of the carts. Thus, when the carriages move in convoy, the starting order is given by the central system, computer of the surveillance room or automaton, as soon as only one of the carriages is full. On the contrary, when the carts move independently, each payment machine gives the starting order to the cart assigned to it as soon as it is full.

The conveying installation according to the invention therefore ultimately has a very great flexibility of use and makes it possible to ensure the transfer of coins from the payment machines, safely and without human intervention.

Claims (5)

1. An assembly for conveying coins between at least one automatic payment machine and a coin processing station, of the type comprising at least one self-driven carriage (2) adapted for moving automatically between the at least one payment machine (1) and the processing station, this carriage (2) being equipped with a container (3) having at its upper part an input orifice (4) through which the coins are fed to the inside, characterized in that it further comprises at least one buffer reservoir (6) placed on each payment machine (1) and through which the coins fed into the machine transit, this reservoir (6) allowing to temporarily retain said coins during movements of the carriage (2) to the processing station and providing direct passage of these coins to the container (3) of the carriage, when the latter is stopped under the payment machine (1), said container comprising at its lower part a trap door (5) the controlled opening of which allows to discharge the contents of the container at the processing station.
2. The conveying assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the self-driven carriage (2) moves over guide rails (9) disposed inside an underground tunnel (8).
3. The conveying assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the buffer reservoir (6) has at its upper part an orifice (49) through which the coins fed into the payment machine (1) fall freely therein and at its lower part a closure flap (50) the opening of which is controlled by means of electromagnets (52, 53) in connection with the movements of the self-driven carriage.
4. The conveying assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that a duct (10, 11, 12) is disposed under the buffer reservoir (6) for ensuring the gravity transfer of the coins to the container (3) of the carriage (2) situated therebelow, when the closure flap (50) of said reservoir is open.
5. The conveying assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the opening and closing of the trap door (5) of the container (3) are ensured by a link (34) which is reciprocated by a rotary plate (35) driven into rotation by means of an electric motor (32), the closed position of the trap door (5) corresponding to the top dead point of the link.

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