GB914841A - Coin separator - Google Patents

Abstract

914,841. Separating and testing coins. ELECTRONIC COIN PROCESSING CORPORATION. July 31, 1961 [Aug. 16, 1960; April 13, 1961], No. 27660/61. Class 27. A coin separator 22 for separating mutilated coins of a single denomination comprises at least one enclosed flat surface, with slots 72 which are slightly larger than a normal coin to allow passage of the coin when the surface is moved to an inclined position. The separator is shown in Fig. 1 as a box of square crosssection which is rotated by a motor 62 and fed with coins from a compartment of a presorting device 20 by means of a shoot 24, the shoot 26 leading to a similar separator but of one dealing with coins of a larger size. The slots have a depth of about half the diameter of a coin and lie along the trailing edge of each wall upon rotation. Means, as shown in Fig. 9, are provided for removing the bent coins which lodge in each slot and consist of a yieldable cam 120 on a shaft 118 adjacent each slot 72 and operated by a weight 122 carried by an arm 124 mounted at each end of the shaft. In operation, the separator is rotated clockwise in Fig. 9 to cause the coins to slide in the direction of the slots. As the wall 50c, Fig. 9, moves from the horizontal to the vertical position, the cam 120, until it reaches the usual position, is held sufficiently clear of the wall 50c to allow the passage of a coin by the action of a stop 130. When the wall 50c passes the vertical position, the weights 122 fall away and turn the cam so that the periphery of the latter moves closer to the wall 50c, thereby removing the bent coin out of frictional engagement with the slot. Further rotation causes the bent coin to fall back into the separator from the then inverted slot. In another embodiment, Fig. 4, the walls 100 are made of thin sheet metal while the depth of the slot 108 is maintained at half the diameter of a coin by providing a slotted metal block 106. Moreover, the passage for the coin may be provided by the co-action of a thin wall and the cam itself when the latter is spaced away from the wall at a distance equal to the height of the slot. In a further embodiment, Fig. 16, there is provided a stop 214 to prevent the coins from passing out of each slot 220 edgewise. Circular openings 222 in the stop slightly larger than the normal diameter of the coins allow the passage of coins which are undamaged about their circumference. The pre-sorting device 20 shown in Fig. 1 is arranged to separate coins of three different denominations, the coins being fed into the centre of three concentric drums 28, 30, 32, by means of a shoot 40 and discharge from these drums to different separators vary by way of shoots 24, 26; rotation of the drums causes the small size coins to pass through perforations of the innermost drum while retaining the largest and this process being repeated in the next drum 30. Specification 914,017 is referred to.