JP2000105846A - Coin discriminating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a forged coin from illegally being used by detecting at least one of the position, width, and frequency corresponding to maximum or minimum coin characteristics. SOLUTION: As a coin which is thrown in a slot approaches sensors 4 and 5, the impedance of a coil varies and then the oscillation level of an oscillation circuit varies. This variation quantity is made different mainly with the thickness of the coin at a thickness sensor 7, mainly with the material of the coin at a material sensor 8, and mainly with the external diameter of the coin at an external-diameter sensor 5. Rectifier circuits provided in those sensors 7, 8, and 5 convert the oscillation waveform of the oscillation circuit from a sine wave to a signal showing the oscillation level. Respective maximum value detecting means 9, 12, and 14 detect the 1st maximum value of the variation quantity of the oscillation level when the coin passes and outputs it to corresponding comparing circuits 15, 18, and 20. The outputs of the comparing circuits 15, 18, and 20 are inputted to a decision circuit 22, which outputs a decision signal 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin discriminating apparatus for electrically discriminating the authenticity and type of coins.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, vending machines have become widespread, and a coin discriminating apparatus used therein has been required to have high discrimination performance.

Conventionally, a coin discriminating apparatus of this type has a coin inlet, a coin passage connected to the insertion slot, a sensor disposed on a side wall of the coin passage, and a coin inserted from an output of the sensor. Detection means for detecting the characteristics of, a storage circuit pre-stored the data of the authenticity of coins and the reference of the type of coin, a comparison circuit for comparing the output of the detection means and data of the storage circuit, And a judgment circuit for judging the authenticity and type of the coin based on the comparison result of the comparison circuit. The sensor is provided with a material, thickness and outer diameter sensor, and the detecting means is provided with means for detecting the maximum value or the minimum value of the output of each sensor. Then, the coin is detected by detecting the material, thickness and outer diameter of the coin based on the maximum value or the minimum value of the output of each sensor during the coin passage.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional configuration, only the maximum value or the minimum value of the coin characteristic is detected as a feature of the coin. That is, in the case of a thickness sensor, only the maximum thickness and the minimum thickness were obtained.

[0005] For this reason, although there is a difference in any of the position, width, and number of times where the coin characteristics are maximum or minimum, the counterfeit coins having substantially the same minimum value or maximum value of the coin characteristics are illegally used. was there. For example, although the position of the thickest part is different from that of a genuine coin, similar foreign coins with almost the same thickness in that part could not be excluded.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a coin identification device capable of preventing such illegal use of counterfeit coins.

[0007]

In order to solve this problem, a coin discriminating apparatus according to the present invention has a structure including means for detecting at least one of a position, a width, and the number of times when a coin characteristic is maximum or minimum. It was done. Therefore, the minimum value and the maximum value of the coin characteristics are almost equal to the genuine coin, but it is possible to prevent the improper use of a fake coin having a difference in the position, width or number of times where the coin characteristics are maximum or minimum. Become.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is directed to a coin insertion slot, a coin passage connected to the coin insertion slot, a sensor disposed on a side wall of the coin passage, and the sensor. The position where the coin characteristics are maximum or minimum from the output,
Detecting means for detecting at least one of the width and the number of times;
A storage circuit in which data serving as a reference for authenticity and type of coins and a reference are stored in advance, a comparison circuit for comparing the output of the detection means with the data of the storage circuit, and the authenticity of coins based on the comparison result of the comparison circuit. And a judging circuit for judging the type, whereby at least one of a position, a width, and the number of times where the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum can be detected. Therefore, although the minimum value and the maximum value of the coin characteristic are almost equal to the genuine coin, it is possible to prevent the illegal use of a fake coin having a difference in any of the position, width, and number of times where the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coin discriminating apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the detecting means detects the position where the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum, thereby detecting the position where the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to prevent improper use of counterfeit coins in which the minimum value and the maximum value of the coin characteristics are almost equal to the genuine coin, but the coin characteristics have a difference in the position where the coin characteristics are maximum or minimum.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coin discriminating apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the detecting means detects the width at which the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to prevent improper use of counterfeit coins whose coin characteristics are substantially equal to the minimum value or the maximum value of the coin characteristics, but differ in the width at which the coin characteristics are maximum or minimum.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coin discriminating apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the detecting means detects the number of times when the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum. be able to. For this reason, it is possible to prevent improper use of counterfeit coins having the minimum value or the maximum value of the coin characteristic substantially equal to that of the genuine coin, but having a difference in the number of times the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the thickness sensor is used as the sensor, and any one of a position, a width, and the number of times where the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum is detected from the output of the thickness sensor. A coin identification device according to
Any of the position, width, and number of times where the coin thickness is maximum or minimum can be detected.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a thickness sensor is provided by arranging two cores each of which is wound with a coil so as to face a coin path, and connecting these coils in series and anti-phase so that mutual inductance becomes negative. The coin identification device according to claim 5, wherein the coin thickness can be detected from both sides of the coin passage. Depending on the coin passing position, such as along the side wall of the coin passage or passing through the central portion, the output of each coil is affected and causes a decrease in detection accuracy, but when detected from both sides, this effect is canceled out, and Detection accuracy is obtained.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the sensor is a material sensor, and any one of a position, a width, and the number of times when the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum is detected from the output of the material sensor. A coin identification device according to
Any one of the position, width, and number of times that the coin material is maximum or minimum can be detected.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, a material sensor is constructed by arranging two cores wound with coils opposite to a coin path, and connecting these coils in series and in-phase so that mutual inductance becomes positive. The coin identification device according to claim 7, wherein the material of the coin can be detected from both sides of the coin passage. Depending on the coin passing position, such as along the side wall of the coin passage or passing through the central portion, the output of each coil is affected and causes a decrease in detection accuracy, but when detected from both sides, this effect is canceled out, and Detection accuracy is obtained.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, any one of a position, a width, and the number of times when the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum is detected from a sensor output and a predetermined threshold value.
The coin discriminating apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 4, wherein a predetermined threshold value is provided, so that the position, width, and number of times that the coin characteristic becomes maximum or minimum can be detected with high accuracy.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, a value obtained by subtracting a constant value from the maximum value of the sensor output is set as the threshold value.
The coin discriminating apparatus described above, wherein a stable threshold value can be obtained by subtracting a certain value from the maximum value. When the threshold value is fixed, it is liable to be affected by fluctuations in temperature and power supply voltage, but these effects can be reduced.

[0018] The invention according to claim 11 is the coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a value obtained by multiplying the maximum value of the sensor output by a constant value is set as a threshold value, wherein the maximum value is multiplied by a constant value. , And a stable threshold value can be obtained. If the threshold value is fixed, it is liable to be affected by temperature fluctuations and variations among products, but these effects can be reduced.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin discriminating apparatus according to the ninth aspect, wherein a value obtained by adding a constant value to a minimum value of the sensor output is used as a threshold value. , And a stable threshold value can be obtained. If the threshold value is fixed, it is liable to be affected by temperature fluctuations and variations among products, but these effects can be reduced.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin discriminating apparatus according to the ninth aspect, wherein a value obtained by multiplying a minimum value of the sensor output by a constant value is set as a threshold value. , And a stable threshold value can be obtained. If the threshold value is fixed, it is liable to be affected by temperature fluctuations and variations among products, but these effects can be reduced.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in a predetermined section, the position, the width,
The coin identification device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the coin identification device detects any one of the number of times, and can detect any one of a position, a width, and a number of times in a section where the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum. .

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coin discriminating apparatus according to the fourteenth aspect, wherein the section is determined from the sensor output and the threshold value, and the detection section can be accurately determined.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coin discriminating apparatus according to the fourteenth aspect, wherein a section between two maximums of the sensor output is a predetermined section. By doing so, the detection section can be accurately determined.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, the position where the coin characteristic is maximized or minimized is corrected by the coin passing speed,
The coin discriminating apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the coin discriminating apparatus detects one of a width and a number of times, and the correction is performed based on a coin passing speed. Can be.

[0025] The invention according to claim 18 is the coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 17, which detects the passing speed of coins in a predetermined section. Since the section is determined, the passing speed can be accurately determined. Can be detected.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of a coin identification device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 2, a coin insertion slot 2 is provided at an upper portion of the coin identification device main body 1, and a coin passage 3 is connected downward from the insertion slot 2. A thickness / material combined sensor 4 and an outer diameter sensor 5 are arranged on the side wall of the passage 3. The passage 3 is connected to a coin outlet 6 located at a lower portion of the coin discriminating apparatus main body 1.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of the coin identification device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, a thickness sensor 7 includes two cores arranged facing the side wall of the passage 3, coils wound inside these cores, an oscillation circuit formed by these coils, and an oscillation waveform. Is converted from a sine wave to a signal indicating an oscillation level. In the thickness sensor 7, the coils wound around the opposing cores are connected in series and anti-phase so that the mutual inductance becomes negative, and the output thereof is a first maximum value detecting means 9 for detecting the maximum value of the thickness. It enters into a number-of-times detecting means 10 for detecting the number of times of maximum and a position detecting means 11 for detecting a position where the thickness becomes maximum.

The material sensor 8 has the same configuration as the thickness sensor 7, but the coils wound around the opposing cores are connected in series and in-phase so that the mutual inductance is positive, and the output is at the position where the thickness is maximized. Position detecting means 1 for detecting
1. Second maximum value detecting means 1 for detecting the maximum value of the material
2. Width detecting means 13 for detecting the width at which the material is minimized
to go into. In the present embodiment, the thickness sensor 7 and the material sensor 8 also serve as the core, and are shown as the thickness / material combined sensor 4 in FIG.

The outer diameter sensor 5 also has the same configuration as the material sensor 8, the coils are connected in series and in-phase, and the output enters the third maximum value detecting means 14 for detecting the maximum value of the outer diameter. The outputs of the detection means 9 to 14 enter the comparison circuits 15 to 20, respectively. The comparison circuits 15 to 20 are also connected to the storage circuit 21. Each output of the comparison circuits 15 to 20 enters the judgment circuit 22, and the judgment circuit 22 outputs a judgment signal 23.

The operation of the coin discriminating apparatus configured as described above will be described below. When the coin inserted from the insertion slot 2 approaches the sensors 4 and 5, the impedance of the coil changes, and the oscillation level of the oscillation circuit changes accordingly. The amount of change is formed so as to differ mainly depending on the thickness of the coin in the thickness sensor 7, mainly depending on the material of the coin in the material sensor 8, and mainly depending on the outer diameter of the coin in the outer diameter sensor 5. Each of the rectifier circuits provided in these sensors converts the oscillation waveform of the oscillation circuit from a sine wave to a signal indicating an oscillation level. Each of the maximum value detection means 9, 12, and 14 detects the first maximum value of the variation of the oscillation level upon passing the coin, and outputs the detected maximum value to the corresponding comparison circuits 15, 18, and 20, respectively.

Next, the frequency detecting means 10 and the position detecting means 1
Operation 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows output waveforms 30 and 40 of the thickness sensor 7 when the coin passes. The vertical axis is the change amount of the oscillation level, and the horizontal axis is the time. The solid line waveform in FIG. 3 is a waveform 30 of a Japanese 500 yen coin. On the other hand, the broken line waveform is the waveform 40 of the first counterfeit coin having a material, an outer diameter, and a maximum thickness that are substantially equal to a 500-yen coin, and a difference in the number and position of the thickness being maximum. These waveforms 30, 4
The difference of 0 is due to the following reasons. This is because the 500 yen coin is thickest at the outer periphery and has relatively small unevenness at the center and is nearly uniform in thickness, whereas the first counterfeit coin is thickest at the center and thicker than the outer periphery. In the present invention, the difference is detected by the number-of-times detecting means 10 and the position detecting means 11 as the difference between the number of times and the position at which the thickness becomes maximum.

In this embodiment, the value obtained by subtracting the constant value 33 from the maximum value 31 of the output of the thickness sensor 7 is defined as the threshold value 32, and the number and position of the portion where the output of the thickness sensor 7 exceeds the threshold value 32 Is detected. In the case of FIG. 3, the number of times when the thickness detected in this manner is the maximum is a waveform 30 of 500 yen.
Is twice in the first counterfeit coin waveform 40. The number-of-times detecting means 10 outputs a signal indicating the number of times to the comparison circuit 16.

In the position detecting means 11 of this embodiment, the position where the thickness becomes maximum is determined as the degree of separation from the center of the coin. First, the first times 34 and 44 and the last times 35 and 45 when the output of the thickness sensor 7 matches the threshold value 32 are detected. At the same time, a time 77 at which the center of the coin passes through the thickness / material sensor 4 is detected by a method described later. Then, the central time 77 and the first time 34, 4
4 and the time differences 37 and 47 between the central time 77 and the last times 35 and 45 are determined, and the larger time difference 36 and 47 is selected. The reason why such a detection method is employed is that the difference that the 500 yen is the thickest in the outer peripheral portion, while the first counterfeit coin is the thickest in the central portion is remarkably recognized. It should be noted that the output waveform 50 of the material sensor 8 is substantially the same as that shown in FIG.

The time differences 36, 4 thus obtained
7 is obviously affected by the passing speed of the coins, so it is necessary to correct the passing speed. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, two times 74, at which the output of the material sensor 8 becomes maximum, which are considered to be proportional to the passing speed of coins,
A time difference 76 of 75 is used. Position detecting means 11
The time difference 36, 47 between the thickness maximum and the center is
A signal indicating a value obtained by dividing by the maximum time difference 76 is output to the comparison circuit 17.

Further, the operation of the width detecting means 13 for detecting the width at which the material is minimized will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows output waveforms 50 and 60 of the material sensor 8 when the coin passes.
As in FIG. 3, the vertical axis indicates the amount of change in the oscillation level, and the horizontal axis indicates time. The solid line waveform in FIG. 4 is the waveform 5 of the Japanese 500 yen coin.
0. On the other hand, the broken line waveform is the waveform 60 of the second counterfeit coin having a thickness, an outer diameter, and a material of the maximum and the minimum which are almost equal to the 500 yen coin, and have a difference in the width at which the material is minimized. The difference between these waveforms 50 and 60 is as follows. The 500 yen coin has a relatively small degree of unevenness on the surface, that is, the degree of uniformity of the electromagnetic characteristics of a coin detected as a material is high, whereas the second counterfeit coin has a hollow on the surface, so the degree of unevenness is small. This is because the material is relatively large, that is, the uniformity of the material is low. In the present invention, the difference is detected by the width detecting means 13 as a difference between widths at which the material is minimized.

In this embodiment, a value obtained by adding a constant value 53 to the minimum value 51 of the output of the material sensor 8 is set as the threshold value 52,
Time 54 when the output of the material sensor 8 falls below the threshold 52,
The width at which the material is minimized is detected based on the time differences 56 and 66 between the time 64 and the time 55 and 65, which are higher than 64. The time differences 56 and 66 thus determined are obviously affected by the passing speed of the coins, so that it is necessary to correct the passing speed.
In the present embodiment, two times 7 at which the output of the material sensor 8 is considered to be proportional to the passing speed of the coin,
The time difference 76 of 4,75 is used. Width detecting means 13
Is a signal indicating a value obtained by dividing the time widths 56 and 66 in which the material is equal to or less than the threshold value by the time difference 76 between the two maxima.
9 is output.

The storage circuit 21 stores a reference value for each type of genuine coin. The comparison circuits 15 to 20 compare the output from each of the detection means 9 to 14 with the reference of the storage circuit 21 and output a signal indicating the type of the genuine coin if they match within an allowable range. If the value does not match, a signal indicating that the coin is a counterfeit is output. Judgment circuit 22
Then, only when all the signals from the comparison circuits 15 to 20 indicate the same type of genuine coin, a signal indicating the type of the genuine coin is output.
Output as

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the position, width, and number of times when the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum can be detected by the position, width, and number-of-times detecting means. It is possible to prevent the improper use of counterfeit coins that differ from the genuine coins in any of the position, width, and number of times of the maximum or minimum.

If the thresholds 32 and 52 are fixed, they are susceptible to fluctuations in temperature and power supply voltage. Therefore, in this embodiment, a value obtained by subtracting the constant value 33 from the maximum value 31 or a minimum value 51 is used. Is a value obtained by adding a constant value 53 to
A maximum value 31 or a minimum value 51 and a constant value (for example, 0.9 or 1.
It can also be the product of 1).

In correcting the coin passing speed, the time difference 7 between the two times 74 and 75 when the output of the material sensor 8 is maximum is obtained.
6, the correction is not limited to this as long as it indicates the passing speed of coins.

The reason why the thickness sensor 7 and the material sensor 8 also serve as the core is to accurately detect the passing time at the center of the coin. At the same time, miniaturization and cost reduction are possible, but different sensors may be used.

Further, in this embodiment, an example in which the change in the oscillation level at the time of passing a coin is used for discrimination is shown. However, if the change in the impedance of the coil due to the coin is used, the inductance, frequency, phase, etc. Changes can also be used.

[0043]

As described above, the coin identification device of the present invention
Since there is provided means for detecting at least one of the position, the width, and the number of times, it is possible to detect at least one of the position, the width, and the number of times when the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum. Therefore, the minimum value and maximum value of the coin characteristics are almost equal to the genuine coin,
It is possible to prevent improper use of counterfeit coins having differences in the position, width, and number of times where the coin characteristics are maximum or minimum.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit of a coin identification device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an outline of the coin identification device.

FIG. 3 is an output waveform diagram of the thickness sensor of the coin identification device.

FIG. 4 is an output waveform diagram of a material sensor of the coin identification device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Coin identification device 2 Slot 3 Coin passage 7 Thickness sensor 8 Material sensor 10 Number of times detection means 11 Position detection means 13 Width detection means 15 Comparison circuit 16 Comparison circuit 17 Comparison circuit 18 Comparison circuit 19 Comparison circuit 20 Comparison circuit 21 Storage circuit 22 Judgment circuit

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A coin insertion slot, a coin passage connected to the coin insertion slot, a sensor arranged on a side wall of the coin passage, and a position, a width, and a position at which coin characteristics become maximum or minimum from the sensor output. Detection means for detecting at least one of the number of times, a storage circuit in which data serving as a reference for authenticity and type of coins and a type are stored in advance, and a comparison circuit for comparing an output of the detection means with data of the storage circuit And a judging circuit for judging the authenticity and type of the coin based on the comparison result of the comparing circuit. 2. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means detects a position at which the position is maximum or minimum. 3. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the detecting means detects a maximum or minimum width. 4. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said detecting means detects the number of times of maximum or minimum. 5. A thickness sensor, wherein a position at which the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum is obtained from the output of the thickness sensor.
The coin identification device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein one of the width and the number of times is detected. 6. The thickness sensor according to claim 5, wherein two cores each of which is wound with a coil are arranged so as to face the coin passage, and these coils are connected in series and in opposite phases so that mutual inductance becomes negative. Coin identification device. 7. A material sensor, wherein a position at which the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum is obtained from the output of the material sensor.
The coin identification device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein one of the width and the number of times is detected. 8. A coin according to claim 7, wherein two coil-wound cores are arranged in opposition to the coin passage, and these coils are connected in series and in-phase so that mutual inductance becomes positive to form a material sensor. Identification device. 9. The method according to claim 2, wherein any one of a position, a width, and the number of times when the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum is detected from the sensor output and a predetermined threshold value. Coin identification device. 10. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a value obtained by subtracting a fixed value from the maximum value of the sensor output is used as the threshold value. 11. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a value obtained by multiplying a maximum value of the sensor output by a constant value is set as a threshold value. 12. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a threshold value is obtained by adding a fixed value to a minimum value of the sensor output. 13. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a value obtained by multiplying a minimum value of the sensor output by a constant value is set as a threshold value. 14. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein any one of a position, a width, and the number of times where the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum is detected in a predetermined section. 15. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 14, wherein a section is determined from a sensor output and a threshold value. 16. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 14, wherein a section between two local maximums of the sensor output is a predetermined section. 17. The coin identification according to claim 2, wherein the coin is identified by detecting the position, width, or number of times at which the coin characteristic is maximum or minimum by correcting the coin with the passing speed of the coin. apparatus. 18. The coin identification device according to claim 16, wherein a coin passing speed is detected in a predetermined section.