GB2298305A

GB2298305A - Article feed device

Info

Publication number: GB2298305A
Application number: GB9503789A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steven Michael Hosking
Original assignee: De la Rue Systems Ltd
Current assignee: De la Rue Systems Ltd
Priority date: 1995-02-24
Filing date: 1995-02-24
Publication date: 1996-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 2015-02-24
Also published as: GB2298305B; GB9503789D0

Abstract

An article feed device, particularly for coins or washers, comprises a rotatably mounted feed member (2) and a guide wall (8) juxtaposed relative to the feed member so that the guide wall and feed member 1 define an article collection trough. The feed member includes an angled annular feed section (3) comprising a number of article receiving apertures (4). The feed member is inclined to the vertical and upon rotation collects articles, from the trough in the apertures. These are then transported to a dispersing position eg for counting.

Description

ARTICLE FEED DEVICE This invention relates to an article feed device comprising a rotatably mounted feed member having a feed section including at least one aperture for receiving an article; and a guide wall juxtaposed relative to the feed member so that the guide wall and feed member define an article collection trough therebetween from which, in use, an article is picked up in the aperture of the feed member and transported on rotation of the feed member to a dispense position. Such feed devices are hereinafter referred to as of the kind described.

Feed devices of the kind described are used in particular for feeding coins or other articles of similar shape, such as washers. Typically, the feed member is in the form of rotating disc provided with a series of circumferentially spaced or radially positioned pockets or holes, and on rotation of the disc, the pockets or holes dip into a mass of articles and individual articles are picked out of the mass by the disc and are carried round in the pockets or holes to the dispense position.

Devices of this kind are commonly used for counting a batch of coins, the coins being removed from the disc at an appropriate point in its travel and being fed past a counting device. Such devices have also been arranged to sort a batch of coins into different denominations by validating the separated coins.

Usually the disc is arranged with its plane inclined to the vertical so that the coins picked up by the disc are retained in the pockets or holes until they reach the removal location and coin not properly retained in a pocket or hole fall or slide off the disc back into the mass of coin. A further advantage of inclining the disc plane from the vertical is that the separated coins can be more readily removed from the disc either by ejection or, under the influence of gravity, to roll on their edge down an inclined surface to be processed further.A hopper for the mass of coin is usually of generally trough shape, the rotating disc dipping into the trough, with a common feature which is usually an essential requirement, that the trough surface adjacent to the disc must be substantially vertical or leaning slightly towards the disc to cause coins local to the disc to lean towards the disc. A problem which arises with known arrangements is that coins can become jammed or wedged between the wall of the hopper and the disc, thereby stopping the disc and perhaps overloading the disc drive motor. This problem also restricts the rate at which the disc is rotated so restricting the rate at which coins are picked up and counted or sorted.

More complicated solutions have been used, for example, GB-A-2147443 describes a hopper which rotates with the disc. Other solutions use a conveyor belt between the coin hopper and disc in order to supply coins to the disc in a more controlled manner and significantly increasing the angle of the disc from the vertical which then requires other means for "pushing of f" coin not seated correctly in the holes and driven means for transporting separated coins away for later processing.

In accordance with the present invention, an article feed device of the kind described is characterised in that the at least one aperture is formed in the feed section so as to face towards the guide wall when in the article pick up position in a direction which is not parallel to the axis of rotation of the feed member.

With this arrangement, the base of the article collection trough is increased in a transverse dimension over the previously known V-shaped base and it has been found that this substantially eliminates the possibility of jams occurring without recourse to the previously proposed complex and expensive solutions.

In a very simple case, the feed member may include a single aperture but in general, the feed section will comprise a plurality of apertures, generally substantially equally, circumferentially spaced about the axis of rotation.

The invention is particularly suited to the feeding of coin shaped articles and consequently the apertures are preferably shaped so as to receive such articles and in particular only a single article at a time.

The feed section could be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, the feed section could be in the form of an arm pivoted at one end at the axis of rotation with an angled section at the other end including an aperture.

Preferably, however, the feed section is in the form of a part conical annulus having a surface tapering outwardly towards the guide wall. The taper angle is preferably in the range 1-450 (most preferably 150-450) to the normal to the axis of rotation with the axis of rotation at 450 to the horizontal, and at 150 or 300 with the axis of rotation inclined at substantially 300 to the horizontal.

The axis of rotation could be at more than 450 to the horizontal, particularly if used in conjunction with means for assisting the removal of excess coinage from the apertures.

The feed section can be supported and rotated in a variety of ways. In one example, the feed section when in the form of an annulus could be journaled around its surface in a surrounding bearing structure and driven by a gear system including a gear formed on the outer surface of the feed section.

Preferably, however, the feed member includes a central wall to which the feed section is connected. The advantage of this is that the feed member can be driven centrally via the wall while in addition the feed member forms an opposed wall of the article collection trough.

In order to retain an article in the aperture, various arrangements are possible. In one arrangement, the feed device includes a back plate positioned behind the feed section of the feed member and fixed relative to the feed member so as to prevent articles falling through the at least one aperture as the aperture moves between the pick up and dispense positions.

In an alternative arrangement, the or each aperture has a rear wall to retain articles therein.

The guide wall will generally be vertically arranged or incline towards the feed member to encourage articles to fall onto the feed member.

In many cases, the orientation of the aperture will be such that at the dispense position, the article will simply fall out of the aperture. However, in some cases the feed device further includes an ejection device for ejecting articles from the aperture at the dispense position. This is particularly useful where the aperture faces vertically at the dispense position.

The feed device may be used in a variety of applications including coin sorting apparatus, coin counting apparatus and other article processing apparatus.

An example of a coin sorting system incorporating a coin feed device according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the system; Figure 2 is a plan of the feed disc shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front elevation of the system shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a schematic, side elevation of a modified feed disc; Figure 5 is a schematic, side elevation of part of a second modified feed disc; Figure 6 is a side elevation of a further modified feed disc; and, Figure 7 is a schematic view of the orientation of the feed disc in Figures 1 to 3.

The coin sorting system shown in the drawings comprises a feed member or disc 1 having a central, planar section 2 around which extends an angled annular feed section 3 in which are provided a number of coin receiving apertures 4 substantially equally annularly, circumferentially spaced around the feed section as shown in Figure 2. The feed disc 1 is mounted at the centre of the section 2 to a spindle 6 which in turn is connected to a motor 7. In an alternative arrangement (not shown) the section 2 could be connected indirectly to the motor 7 through a drive chain. In use, actuation of the motor 7 causes the spindle 6 to rotate causing rotation of the feed disc 1.

The coin pockets 4 are of a sufficient diameter to contain the largest coin in the range of coins to be sorted and have a depth and edge profile so as to encourage only one coin of minimum thickness within the range of coins to be sorted to be retained in the aperture as the feed disc 1 is rotated.

A guide wall 8 is positioned to extend upwardly from adjacent a lower end of the feed disc 1 so as to define with the feed disc a hopper 9 in to which coins to be sorted are supplied. The guide wall 8 has a near vertical orientation to encourage coins in the hopper 9 to rest with their faces adjacent the angled edge profile of the feed section 3 of the feed disc 1.

The feed section 3 tapers outwardly from the section 2 towards the side wall 8 and is angled in this case at substantially 300 to the horizontal (angle A in Figure 7).

In this case, the axis of rotation is at an angle y of 450 to the horizontal. At this angle y, the angle ss (Figure 7) is preferably in the range 10-450 from the normal to the axis of rotation, most preferably between 150 and 450.

When the axis of rotation is at an angle y = 300 to the horizontal then the angle ss is preferably 150 or 300.

The overall, preferred conditions defining the geometrical arrangement of the feed disc are as follows where angles A,C,ss,y are as shown in Figure 7.

A = 900 - (y + ss) C = 900 - (y - ss) y,ss are positive angles A,C,ss,y are all in the range 0-90 Figure 4 illustrates an arrangement in which A = 00.

The angle of the axis of rotation to the horizontal y could be more than 450, particularly if the system is used in conjunction with means for assisting the removal of excess coinage from. the apertures. In particular, this arrangement would be acceptable where excess coin not held in the apertures could mechanically be swept back into the hopper 9 and driven means, for example belts, are used to drive the separated coins from the rotating feed disc.

It will be seen that by angling the feed section 3 the lower part of the hopper 9 is opened up relative to an arrangement in which the feed section 3 is parallel with the section 2 thus considerably reducing the risks of jamming.

The feed disc 1 is mounted in a correspondingly shaped plate 10, the radially outer end of which is formed with a flange 5. The back plate 10 prevents a coin falling through the apertures 4 and is fixed in position so that the feed disc 1 rotates relative to the back plate.

Mounted to the back plate 10 adjacent a dispense position 11 is a coin runway or validation ramp 12 in which there is a groove or ledge 13. The height of the runway must be greater than the largest diameter coin likely to be sorted and the depth of the runway preferably greater than the thickness of the thinnest coin to be sorted. The runway (groove) is preferably angled in two planes as shown in Figures 1 and 3. A coin entering the groove at its uppermost position will, under the influence of gravitational force, roll or slide on its edge and rear face away from the back plate 10 to be batched or otherwise processed further. This can be seen most clearly in Figure 3.

In the example described, the angle of the feed section 3 is such that a coin will fall out of the aperture 4 at the dispense position 11 under gravity (the back plate 10 having a corresponding aperture at this position). In Figure 4, a second form of feed member 20 is shown in which, at the lower pick up position, the feed section 21 is substantially horizontal. In this case, therefore, at the dispense position 11 the feed section 21 is substantially vertical and in order to ensure that coins are dispensed, an ejection device 22 is provided. This may be in the form of a pneumatic or. mechanical/ electrical actuator which pushes a coin out of the aperture 4 on to the coin runway 12. The actuator could be in the form of an air jet applied to the front of the coin in the aperture or a vacuum applied to the rear of the coin.

In the previous examples, a back plate 10 has been provided to retain coins in the apertures 4. Figure 5 illustrates an arrangement in which the back plate is dispensed with. In this case, the feed section 23 provides a wall 24 behind the aperture 4 to prevent coins from dropping through. This wall may be continuous or, as shown, include a bore 25 to allow a coin ejection device 22 to eject the coins at the dispense position 11 onto the coin runway 12. In other examples, the coin ejection device may not be necessary and so the bore 25 can be omitted. For example, the wall 24 could be flexible to enable a force to be applied to it from the rear so as to eject a coin located in the aperture 4.

In all the previous examples, the feed disc 1 has been formed of a central, planar section and a tapered feed section. Figure 6 illustrates an example of a feed disc 30 which is continuously curved or dished and is mounted in front of a correspondingly, continuously curved back plate 31.

In other examples (not shown), the tapered annular feed sections of the examples used could also be constructed as an annulus having a curved or dished cross sectional shape.

Claims

1. An article feed device comprising an article feed device of the kind described characterised in that the at least one aperture is formed in the feed section so as to face towards the guide wall when in the article pick up position in a direction which is not parallel to the axis of rotation of the feed member.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the feed section comprises a plurality of apertures, generally substantially equally, circumferentially spaced about the axis of rotation.

3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the feed section is in the form of a part conical annulus having an inner surface tapering outwardly towards the guide wall.

4. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the axis of rotation of the feed member is at substantially 450 to the horizontal.

5. A device according to claim 4, when dependent on claim 3, wherein the taper angle is in the range 1-45 to the normal to the axis of rotation of the feed member.

6. A device according to claim 5, wherein the taper angle is substantially 150 or 450.

7. A device according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the axis of rotation of the feed member is at substantially 300 to the horizontal.

8. A device according to claim 7, when dependent on claim 3, wherein the taper angle is substantially 150 or 30 to the normal to the axis of rotation of the feed member.

9. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the feed member includes a central wall to which the feed section is connected.

10. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the feed member is in the form of a substantially continuously curved dish.

11. A device according to any of the preceding claims, further including a back plate positioned behind the feed section of the feed member and fixed relative to the feed member so as to prevent articles falling through the at least one aperture as the aperture moves between the pick up and dispense positions.

12. A device according to any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the or each aperture has a rear wall to retain articles therein.

13. A device according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the guide wall is generally vertically arranged or inclined towards the feed member.

14. A device according to any of the preceding claims, further including an ejection device for ejecting articles from the aperture at the dispense position.

15. An article feed device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the examples shown in the accompanying drawings.

16. An article processing system including an article feed device according to any of the preceding claims; and processing means to which articles are fed by the feed device.

17. A coin processing system according to claim 16.