JP2001126105A - Belt carrying type device for discriminating coin - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To aim at the cost reduction of a coin receiving and paying machine and to improve the machine so as to accurately perform the opening and closing control of a gate mechanism on the basis of the truth/falsehood decision of a coin without an encoder by suppressing the speed fluctuation of a coin carrying belt low. SOLUTION: In this belt carrying type coin discriminating device which is mounted on the coin receiving and paying machine, etc., discriminates the truth/falseness of aligned coins sent from a coin receiving part on their way for belt carrying and sends the coins to a coin discriminating part of a subsequent stage, is equipped with coin discriminating sensors 4b and a gate mechanism 4c removing different types of coins other than current coins from a carrying path on the basis of a discrimination signal on the upper side of the device, is provided with the coin carrying belt 4d on the upper face of and along a base 4a arranged at the coin carrying path, a fluoroplastic sheet 4f as a surface material having a small surface frictional resistance is stuck to at least a part of the face area of the upper face of the base sliding against the belt for coin carrying with each other and the frictional resistance against the carrying belt is reduced to improve the carrying speed fluctuation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a belt-conveying coin discriminating apparatus provided in a circulating coin dispensing machine used in combination with a cash register or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a circulating coin depositing and dispensing machine described above, coins batch-inserted into a coin receiving slot are separated one by one and conveyed to a coin discriminating device, where the coins are discriminated for authenticity.
Conveyed to the subsequent coin discriminating section, sorted coins by denomination, stored in the coin storage section, and dispensed coins corresponding to the withdrawal amount from the coin storage section to the coin exit based on the dispensing command This is known, and the specific configuration is described in detail in JP-A-9-153160.

[0003] Next, an outline of the structure of the above-mentioned circulating coin depositing and dispensing machine will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). In the figure, 1
Is a body of a circulating coin depositing and dispensing machine, 2 is a coin receiving opening opened on the front side thereof, 3 is a coin taking-out opening, and inside the body 1 is a space between the coin receiving opening 2 and the coin taking-out opening 3. A coin discriminating section A provided with the belt transporting coin discriminating apparatus 4 to be subjected to the present invention, a coin discriminating section B for sorting coins sent from the coin discriminating section A by denomination, and coins by denomination (1 yen) , 5 yen, 1
Coins from the coin storage section C, which is a storage tube 5 for storing the coins separately (0 yen, 50 yen, 100 yen, and 500 yen), and from the storage tube 5 of the coin storage section C to the coin payout exit 3 based on the dispensing command. The coin payout section D to be paid out is arranged in a layout as shown in the figure.

[0004] Here, on the bottom side of the coin receiving slot 2, the coins inserted all at once are fed and fed to the coin discriminating section A, and the coins piled on the feed belt 6 are stacked. There is provided a reverse feed roller 7 which breaks up and aligns in a line. Further, the belt transport type coin identification device 4 corresponding to the coin identification unit A has a coin identification sensor 4b on the upper surface side of a long base 4a which also serves as a belt guide rail disposed along the coin transport path, and A reject gate mechanism 4 for rejecting foreign coins other than currency from the transport path and collecting them in the collection box 8 downstream of the coin discrimination sensor 4b.
c, a coin transport belt 4d is stretched around the base along the longitudinal direction of the base 4a, and the transport belt 4d is made to travel around by a drive motor 4e.

In this configuration, when coins are aligned in a line from the coin receiving section 2 via the payout belt 6 and reach the coin discriminating device 4, the coins move from the payout belt 6 to the transport belt 4d and advance forward, and the discrimination sensor In the process of currency immediately below 4b, the size, material, weight, etc. of the coin are checked, and based on the data, the authenticity of the coin and whether or not it is a currency are determined. Here, the coin determined to be "currency" is conveyed backward by a belt as it is, and sent out from the terminal side to a coin sorting section B at the subsequent stage via a corner guide. The reject gate mechanism 4c is always retracted to the standby position where it is pulled up from the coin transport belt 4d. On the other hand, when the coin currency of the discrimination sensor 4b is determined to be "non-currency" (heterogeneous coin other than currency), the heterogeneous coin currency of the discrimination sensor 4b is used as the reject gate mechanism 4c based on the judgment signal. The gate mechanism 4a descends on the belt from the standby position and lands, at the timing of reaching the position, guides the foreign coins to the side from the transport path, and rejects them to the collection box 8.

In this case, the reject gate mechanism 4c
Is controlled by a coin sensor placed on the conveyor belt 4d and the discrimination sensor 4
It is necessary to perform the operation in accordance with the timing of reaching the position of the gate mechanism 4c from b. Therefore, in the conventional apparatus, an encoder (not shown) is provided to the drive motor 4e of the coin transport belt 4d.
The gate mechanism 4c is controlled to open and close by determining the transport speed and transport distance of the coin based on the signal of the encoder.

[0007] Coins determined to be "currency" are sent to the coin sorting section B, and then sorted by denomination to the coin storage section C.
Is once stored in the storage tube 5 for each denomination, and then paid out to the coin outlet 3 through the coin payout section D in accordance with a withdrawal command.

[0008]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional belt conveying type coin discriminating apparatus, in order to control opening and closing of the reject gate mechanism 4c, an encoder for detecting a moving speed of the belt and a control attached thereto are provided. Since a circuit or the like is required, the cost of the coin depositing and dispensing machine increases.

In this regard, if the fluctuation of the coin conveying speed by the coin conveying belt 4d can be kept low and a stable conveying speed can always be ensured, the speed (constant) of the coin conveying belt and the speed from the discrimination sensor 4b to the gate mechanism 4c can be maintained. Since the time until the coin passing through the discrimination sensor 4b reaches the gate mechanism 4c from the distance (known) becomes constant, it is possible to accurately control the gate mechanism 4c without using an encoder based on this. It is.

However, since the coin transport belt 4b moves while sliding on the upper surface of the base 4a with the coins placed thereon, the coin transport belt 4b is moved between the base 4a and the belt 4d depending on the material of the base 4a and the belt 4d. Frictional resistance is exerted on the coin transport belt 4d, and the frictional resistance is affected by the change in load depending on the denomination and quantity of coins and the humidity of the surrounding environment. Is not stable, so the gate mechanism 4
It is practically difficult to precisely control the opening and closing of c.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims at reducing the product cost of a coin depositing and dispensing machine, controlling the speed fluctuation of a coin transport belt to be low and controlling the gate mechanism accurately without an encoder. It is an object of the present invention to provide a belt-conveying coin discriminating apparatus improved so that it can be performed.

[0012]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, coins which are mounted on a coin depositing / dispensing machine or the like and which are arranged and sent from a coin receiving unit are transported in the belt conveyance. This is a belt-conveying coin discriminating device that discriminates authenticity and sends it to a coin sorting unit at the subsequent stage. It is equipped with a coin discriminating sensor on the top side and a gate mechanism that rejects different kinds of coins other than currency from the transport path based on discrimination signals. A coin transport belt is laid on the upper surface along a base also serving as a belt guide rail arranged in the coin transport path, and at least a partial area of the upper surface of the base sliding on the coin transport belt Is coated with a surface material having low surface friction resistance (Claim 1), and is specifically implemented and configured in the following manner.

(1) At least a surface area on the entrance side where the conveyor belt enters the base is coated with a surface material. (2) A sheet of a fluororesin is used as a surface material, which is adhered to the upper surface of the base (claim 3). (3) As a surface material, the upper surface of the base is coated with a fluororesin (claim 4).

According to the above configuration, the surface frictional resistance between the base of the coin discriminating apparatus and the coin transport belt that moves while sliding on the upper surface thereof is suppressed, thereby stabilizing the moving speed of the coin transport belt. As a result, the speed fluctuation is greatly improved. Therefore, the time required for the coin passing through the discrimination sensor in the course of the coin discrimination operation to reach the gate mechanism arranged on the downstream side is also constant, so that the encoder used in the conventional device can be omitted even if it is omitted. The gate mechanism can be controlled at an appropriate timing, and product cost can be reduced.

[0015]

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to (a) and (b). In the drawings of the embodiment, members corresponding to those in FIG. That is, in the illustrated embodiment, a fluorocarbon resin sheet 4f having a low surface friction resistance is adhered as a surface material to the upper surface of the base 4a laid on the lower surface thereof along the conveyance path of the coin conveyance belt 4d. The frictional resistance acting between the coin transport belt 4d and the coin transport belt 4d slidably moving on the upper surface side is reduced, so that the speed fluctuation of the belt is suppressed. 4d-1 and 4d-2 are coin transport belts 4 in the figure.
d is a pulley, 4d-3 is a tension pulley, and 4g is a gate mechanism for a corner guide for guiding coins determined to be "currency" from the end of the conveyor belt 4d to a coin sorting section B (see FIG. 2) at the subsequent stage. is there.

Here, the fluororesin sheet 4f is
Ideally, the base is attached so as to cover the entire area of the base except for the installation part of the discrimination sensor 4b. However, when the base is attached to a part of the top of the base in consideration of material cost reduction. Is
From the results of experiments conducted by the inventors, it has been confirmed that when the transfer belt 4d is attached to the entrance side of the base into which the conveyor belt 4d enters as shown in FIG. Similar effects can be obtained by coating the upper surface of the base 4a with a fluororesin instead of attaching a fluororesin sheet as a surface material having low surface friction.

As described above, the upper surface of the base 4a is coated with a surface material having low surface frictional resistance so that the base 4a
The frictional resistance between a and the coin transport belt 4d that moves while sliding on the upper surface side is reduced, and fluctuations in the belt transport speed are suppressed low, so that the coin transport speed is stabilized. Therefore, even if the encoder attached to the drive motor 4e in the conventional device is omitted, the gate mechanism 4c can be accurately determined based on the traveling speed of the transport belt 4d and the known distance between the discrimination sensor 4b and the gate mechanism 4c as described above. Opening / closing control can be performed stably with good timing.

[0018]

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, at least a part of the upper surface of the base, which slides on the coin transport belt, is covered with a surface material having a small surface frictional resistance. As a result, by reducing and stabilizing the speed fluctuation of the conveyor belt, it becomes possible to control the gate mechanism at an accurate timing by omitting the encoder used in the conventional apparatus, thereby reducing the product cost. It can contribute to reduction.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a belt transport type coin discriminating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein (a) and (b) are a side view and a plan view, respectively.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing an in-machine configuration of a coin depositing and dispensing machine equipped with a belt transport type coin discriminating apparatus, in which (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 coin receiving / dispensing machine body 2 coin receiving port 3 coin receiving port 4 belt transport type coin identifying device 4a base 4b identifying sensor 4c gate mechanism 4d coin transport belt 4e drive motor 4f surface material (fluororesin sheet) B coin sorting section C Coin storage section D Coin payout section

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E001 AA01 AB01 BA01 CA10 FA23 FA26 3E002 CA15 DA03 EA01 3F023 AA03 AB06 BA02 BB01 BC01 CA03

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A belt transport type coin discriminator which is mounted on a coin receiving and dispensing machine or the like, discriminates authenticity of coins sent in a line from a coin receiving section in the course of belt transport, and sends out the coins to a subsequent coin sorting section. A coin discrimination sensor is provided on the upper surface side, and a gate mechanism is provided on the top side for displacing different kinds of coins other than currency from the conveyance path based on the discrimination signal. A belt transport, wherein a coin transport belt is laid on an upper surface thereof, wherein at least a partial area of an upper surface of the base sliding on the coin transport belt is covered with a surface material having a small surface friction resistance. Coin discriminator. 2. A coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a surface material is coated on at least a surface area on an entrance side where the conveyor belt enters the base. 3. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface material is a sheet of a fluororesin. 4. The coin discriminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the surface material is a coating layer of a fluororesin.