FR2842633A1 - Separator device for coin sorting machine, contains fixed brush for sweeping upper side of rotating disc - Google Patents

Abstract

At least one fixed part (10) brushes or sweeps the upper side of the rotating disc (2). The device (1) comprises a disc which can be rotated about a non-vertical axis and is supported on a fixed slanting guide (13). The disc periphery is provided with cavities (3) for receiving the coins (4, 9, 12) to be sorted. The guide contains crescent-shaped windows in its upper part and has a solid lower end section. Coins are supplied in bulk to the top side of the disc and then supplied one by one to the sorting machine.

Description

SORTING DEVICE FOR SORTING MACHINE

COINS OF CURRENCY

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

  The present invention relates to a separator device

  for coin sorting machine.

  TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

  Mechanical sorters intended to separate, according to their value or according to their origin, loose coins

  have been known for a long time from the state of the art.

  Some are very complex and used then in most cases by banking establishments, others are much simpler and suitable for sorting a small quantity of coins like, for example, the present currency

in a merchant's cash register.

  Various principles are implemented in these sorters. A basic principle is that the pieces feed one by one a guide having openings of sizes corresponding to the increasing diameters of the pieces: insofar as each diameter corresponds to a category of pieces, the pieces are thus sorted sequentially according to their diameter, from the smallest to the largest, and consequently according to their value. We understand that the parts must be perfectly separated from each other to avoid, on the one hand, the blocking of the sorting system, and, on the other hand, that a small part crosses at the same time as a larger one, while being

  carried by the latter, the discriminatory opening.

  One of the most effective separating devices is a disc rotating above a flat and fixed support, around an axis inclined to the vertical, a disc whose periphery has cells. This inclined disc receives loose coins on its upper side. Only the -2 pieces held in cells while sliding on the support also inclined are driven to the sorting device, the others are ejected by centrifugal force before

  find their place in turn in free cells.

  A device of this kind is described, for example, in American patent US-2,642,882 published on June 23, 1953 in the name

by A. Buchholz.

  It should be noted that this type of rotary disc separator device has given rise to multiple variants still used in the most recent coin sorters. However, it has become clear from practice that parts of different sizes can remain superimposed if the speed of the disc is relatively slow, small parts being carried by larger ones, thus causing

device malfunctions.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

  The present invention therefore aims to improve the

  operation of existing separating devices.

  It specifically relates to a separator device for sorting coins, of the type of those comprising a disc whose periphery has cells intended to drive these coins. The disc is rotating around an axis inclined on the vertical, and it receives on its upper surface the loose pieces in order to feed by these pieces, one by one, sorting means of the machine. To this end, the disc rests on a fixed and also inclined guide, which is provided at least in the upper part with openings of increasing sizes according to the direction of rotation of the disc and which is

  full at least in the extreme low part.

  An essential characteristic of the device is that it further comprises at least one fixed element arranged so as to sweep the upper surface of the disc at the level of the cells. -3 Preferably, the dimension of this element in a direction tangential to the disc is less than its dimension

in a radial direction.

  It is also advantageous for this element to extend substantially in a radial plane of the disc. We will benefit from part of this element in contact

with the disc, made of flexible material.

  According to an additional characteristic of the device, this part of the element in contact with the upper surface of the disc is preferably a brush, but can

  also be a blade or a flap made of flexible material.

  These few essential specifications make it obvious to those skilled in the art the advantages provided by the separator device for coin sorting machine according to the invention compared to the state of the prior art. Detailed specifications of the invention are given

  in the description which follows in conjunction with the attached drawing. It should be noted that this drawing has no other purpose than

  illustrate the text of the description and does not constitute

  no kind limiting the scope of the invention.

BR VE DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

  Figure 1 is a top view of the separator device according to the invention. This device overcomes a

  device for sorting coins not shown.

  DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

  Figure 1 shows the upper part of a machine for sorting coins, especially those of the

  new European currency, the Euro.

  The cover acting as a hopper receiving the loose parts has been removed and reveals the separating device 1. This essentially comprises a disc 2 provided at its periphery 5 with cells 3 intended to receive the -4 pieces 4 to be sorted and to transport them in a circular movement. This disc 2, driven by an electric motor, rotates inside the body 6 of the machine along an axis

  tilted vertically (front to back in the figure).

  The inclined disc 2 rests on a flat support or guide 13 which is fixed, which is also inclined and whose lower end is full. The cells of the disc 2 are through and the parts received in the cells are thus in contact in the lower part of the device with the surface of the guide 13. The latter is also provided at its periphery, on about its upper third, with openings of increasing sizes constituting the underlying sorting organ (not visible on the

figure) of the machine.

  The central part of the disc 2 is obscured by a circular fixed stud 7 which has a flange 8 acting as a ramp along which the parts 4 slide or roll by gravity towards the lower periphery of the disc 2 when they are

introduced into the machine.

  Randomly, a cell 3 may contain a large part surmounted by a smaller part 9, therefore most often of lesser value than the large part. In this case, the assembly 9 necessarily falls into the opening intended for large parts provided for this purpose in the guide 13: the sorting device cannot then function correctly since, in the receptacle placed under the separating device and reserved for a category of large rooms,

the smaller room will appear.

  In order to eliminate the possibility of superimposition of the parts 4, 9, brushes 10 integral with the central stud 7, and arranged radially, scan the upper surface of the disc 2 at the level of the cells 3 on a low lateral sector of the periphery, sector which precedes, in the direction of rotation 11 of the disc 2, the part of the guide 13 underlying o

  the sorting openings are arranged.

  The thickness of the disc 2 at the level of the cells 3 is less than that of the largest parts so that any small part 9, surmounting another larger part, -5 is swept without being blocked by the edge of the cells 3 and falls back behind either on the peripheral part 5 of the disc 2, or on the guide 13, through the next cell 3, so that in the latter case it can be driven by said cell to the underlying sorting member . Thanks to this arrangement, any superimposition of a part 9 on another larger part is prohibited, and any part such as 12 can consequently tilt in the opening made in the guide 13 which corresponds to its size, therefore to its value. , without causing a second piece of

  different value, usually of lower value.

  The case of a large part surmounting a smaller, thinner part is not to be considered, since the sorting is carried out in the upper part of the machine according to the increasing size of the parts, the cells 3 emerging through the disc 2 being all d '' the same diameter, suitable for receiving the largest parts, but the openings drilled in the guide 13, in the upper part of its periphery, in line with the circular path followed by the cells 3, being on the other hand of diameters which

  are increasing in the direction of rotation 11 of the disc 2.

  Advantageously, the number of cells 3 drilled in the disc 2 is seven, and the number of openings drilled in the guide 13 and passing through it so that the coins already separated according to their diameter, therefore their value, descend to their respective receptacles is nine, one for each of the eight European coins, from one penny to two euros, distributed regularly around the periphery of the upper third of guide 13, from the smallest to the largest following the direction of rotation 11, and the ninth opening, the last, that which, on the left of the figure, is shown as receiving the part 12 shown in the tilted position, serving as scrap for the parts which could not be pre-sorted . The latter then fall into a general reservoir from which they are extracted, for example manually, and reinjected in bulk above the

  disc 2 in order to undergo a new sorting operation.

  As it goes without saying, the invention is not limited to the single preferred embodiment described above. On the contrary, it embraces all possible variant embodiments and, in particular, the brushes 10 can be replaced by one or more equivalent means for scanning the surface of the disc 2, such as blades or flexible flaps. Likewise, the guide 13 can be either a circular plate, or more simply a crown of a width such that it is slightly greater than the diameter of the cells 3 of the disc, and that it overflows on either side of the path. circular followed by said cells, said crown being solid at the bottom and on the sides and provided with its nine pierced openings

  in the region of its upper third.

-7

Claims (4)

  1) Separator device (1) for coin sorting machine (4, 9, 12), of the type of those comprising a disc (2) whose periphery has cells (3), said disc (2) being in rotation (11) about an axis inclined on the vertical and resting on a fixed and inclined guide (13), which is provided at least in the upper part with openings of increasing sizes and which is full at least in the extreme lower part, said disc (2) receiving on its upper surface the pieces (4, 9, 12) in bulk in order to feed by said pieces one by one of the sorting means of said machine, characterized in that said device (1) comprises in in addition to at least one fixed element (10) arranged so as to sweep the upper surface of the   disc at the level of its cells (3).   2) Separator device (1) for coin sorting machine (4, 9, 12) according to claim 1, characterized in that the dimension of said element (10) in a direction tangential to said disc (2) is less than   its dimension in a radial direction.   3) Separator device (1) for coin sorting machine (4, 9, 12) according to any one of   claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said element   (10) extends substantially in a radial plane of said disc (2). 4) Separator device (1) for coin sorting machine (4, 9, 12) according to any one of   Claims 1 to 3 above, characterized in that the   part of said element (10) in contact with the surface   upper disc (2) is made of flexible material.   ) Separator device (1) for coin sorting machine (4, 9, 12) according to any one of   Claims 1 to 4 above, characterized in that the   part of said element (10) in contact with the surface   upper disc (2) is a brush. J \ "