JP2001167310A - Coin sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sort foreign coins which resemble genuine coins closely by a coin sorting device which decide whether or not a coin rolling in a coin passage is genuine according to the outputs of a material sensor L11, an external- diameter sensor L12 and a thickness sensor L13 composed of coils, etc., by providing the sensors along the coin passage. SOLUTION: The plate thickness sensor L13 uses a small-diameter (6Φ) pot core so as to detect the pattern of a coin in addition to its thickness. Then a material decision means 161, an external-diameter decision means 162, and a thickness decision means 163 decide whether the coin is genuine from the peaks of detection waveform data from respective a material sensor L11, an external-diameter sensor L12 and a thickness sensor L13 on the basis of the material, external diameter, and thickness of the coin as usual, but a pattern decision means 164 decides whether or not the coin is genuine by obtaining characteristics values representing the pattern of the coin by using representative values of plural sections in a time-series of data as to an area exceeding the prescribed level of the detection waveform from the thickness sensor L13. A total genuineness decision means 200 finally decides its genuineness according to the decision results of the decision means 161 to 164.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin sorting device mounted on a vending machine or the like, which is provided with a coin sorting sensor along the path of the inserted coins, and outputs the coin sorting sensor output. The present invention relates to a coin sorting device that determines the authenticity of coins rolling in a coin passage based on the coins. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First of all, a patent No.
Prior art will be briefly described mainly with reference to the contents of 501850. FIG. 4 is a principle structural view showing a main part of a coin sorting device according to the invention of the earlier application provided in a vending machine or the like. Coins 3 inserted from a coin insertion slot 1 roll in a coin passage 2, As will be described later, the characteristics of the coin are detected by a coin sorting sensor Ll composed of a sorting coil provided along the coin path 2.

The coin sorting sensor Ll accommodates coils in a pair of pot cores each having an E-shaped cross section. The coins pass through the gaps where the opening surfaces face each other (so that the surface can face the coin). The coils of the pair are connected to each other to form one sorting coil.

[0004] The peak value of the characteristic value detected by the coin sorting sensor Ll is compared with a predetermined upper limit value and lower limit value of a denomination, and the detected characteristic value is between the upper limit value and the lower limit value. If there is a seed, the coin is determined as a genuine coin of the denomination, and other coins are determined as counterfeit. And
The sorting gate 4 is driven based on the result of the determination, so that genuine coins are sorted and stored in the genuine coin passage 5 and fake coins are sorted and returned to the return passage 6.

FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram showing an example of the configuration of a series of circuits for judging the inserted coin by the coin sorting sensor L1 of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 shows the operation of FIG. 5 obtained from the coin sorting sensor. It is a characteristic diagram demonstrated by the waveform data of a coin characteristic. In FIG. 5, the bridge circuit 10 includes a coin sorting sensor L1, an inductance L2, and resistors R1 and R2.
And an oscillator O as a power supply for the bridge circuit 10.
SC is connected.

The detection voltage of the bridge circuit 10 is connected to a differential amplifier circuit 11, and the output voltage of the bridge circuit 10 is
Digital value detection characteristic value A through AD converter 13
And input to the difference calculation circuit 14. The other input terminal of the difference calculation circuit is provided with the center value M of the coin type, which is output from the center value memory 17 in order to correct variations among the coin sorting devices. The absolute value | A−M | of the difference between the denominations obtained by subtracting each central value M from the characteristic value A is output and input to the comparison circuit 15.

The other input terminal of the comparison circuit 15 is provided with a tolerance N of the denomination output from the tolerance memory 18, and the comparison circuit 15 outputs an absolute value | A−M |
Are sequentially compared with the allowable amounts N for the corresponding denominations, and when | A−M | ≦ N, that is, (M−N) ≦ A ≦
In the case of (M + N), a logic “1” is output, and | A−M |>
In the case of N, “0” is output and input to the determination circuit 16.

FIG. 6A shows a change with time of the output value (detection characteristic value) A of the AD converter 13 when the coin 3 is inserted into the coin passage 2 (FIG. 4) (that is, the coin sorting sensor L1).
(B) of the waveform data of the coin characteristics obtained from FIG.
Indicates a temporal change of the output CP of the comparison circuit 15 corresponding to the country (A). Here, the genuine coin judgment is (M−M−) for a denomination having a peak value of the detection characteristic value A when the coin 3 passes through the coin sorting sensor L1 as shown in FIG.
When it is between (N) and (M + N), it is determined that the denomination is genuine as shown in FIG. That is, in this example, the pulse which becomes “1” only once in the determination circuit 16 is supplied to the comparison circuit 15.
Is determined to be genuine when input from.

[0009] The above-mentioned tolerance N is a substitute for this.
Upper limit width N for center value M for each denomination_HAnd lower limit width N
_LAnd can be specified separately. In this case, (M
-N _L) ≦ A ≦ (M + N)_H), The output of the comparison circuit 15
Becomes “1”, and A <(M−N_L) Or (M + N)_H)
It becomes "0" at the time of <A. Fig. 3 shows a real coin sorter
2 shows an example of the arrangement of a coin sorting sensor in FIG. In other words, coins roll
Along the moving coin passage 2, the material sensor L11 and the outer diameter sensor
A sensor L12 and a plate thickness sensor L13 are provided.
A circuit similar to that of FIG. 5 is provided for each of the sensors L11 to L13.
And the sensors L11 to L13 correspond to the sensors.
In the same circuit as in FIG. 5 instead of the coin sorting sensor Ll
Built in.

The peak value of the coin characteristic waveform data (that is, the output of the AD converter 13) obtained through the material sensor L11, the outer diameter sensor L12, and the thickness sensor L13 is used as the material and outer diameter of the coin. If the peak value of each of the detected characteristic values is within a predetermined range corresponding to a coin of a certain denomination, as in the case of the coin sorting sensor L1, It was judged to be a kind of specie.

[0011]

However, in this conventional coin sorter, if a foreign currency having a similar material, outer diameter and thickness is processed and thrown in, it is determined to be a true currency. In some cases, foreign currency was misused. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a coin sorting apparatus that can correctly sort even a fake coin whose material, outer diameter, and plate thickness are very similar to those of a true coin.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin sorting apparatus comprising a sensor (material sensor L11, outer diameter sensor L12, plate thickness sensor L13) along a coin path (2). ) Is arranged, by sampling at a predetermined time interval (for example, 1 mS) for a signal region of a predetermined level (reference level LVS) or more in a signal waveform obtained from the sensor as the coin passes. The obtained time-series data sequence indicating the magnitude of the signal is equally divided into a predetermined first plurality (n) of sections, and the representative values (X ₁ , X ₂ ) of the data for each of the equally divided sections , ... X
_n-1 ), the authenticity of the coin is determined using at least a representative value (for example, _Xm-1 , _Xm , _{Xm + 1} ) of the data of the second plurality of sections. It is assumed that authenticity determining means (pattern determining means 164) is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coin sorting apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the authenticity judging means includes a predetermined one which uses a representative value of data of the second plurality of sections as a variable. The authenticity of the coin is determined using the following equation (for example, X _m-1 -2X _m + X _{m + 1} ). Further, in the coin sorting apparatus according to claim 3, in the coin sorting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, the representative value of the data of the section is a boundary value as data positioned at the boundary of the section, or the data of the data of the section. Average value, maximum value or minimum value.

That is, according to the present invention, irregularities on the coin surface are detected by using a time-series signal of the inserted coin obtained from a thickness sensor or the like as a signal representing the pattern of the coin, and the authenticity of the coin is determined. Is what you do.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the coin sorting apparatus of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
Material sensor L1 that detects the material, outer diameter, and thickness of the inserted coin
1, an outer diameter sensor L12 and a plate thickness sensor L13 are arranged respectively. However, in the present invention, the plate thickness sensor L13 is particularly constituted by a pot core and a coil having a small diameter (6Φ) so that irregularities on the surface of the coin can be detected in addition to the plate thickness.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a control circuit of a coin sorting apparatus as one embodiment of the present invention.
In the figure, a material sensor L11 is connected to a detection circuit 101, an output of the detection circuit 101 is rectified by a rectification circuit 121, further converted into a digital value by an AD converter 131, and input to a material determination unit 161.

Similarly, the outer diameter sensor L12 is connected to the detection circuit 102.
The output of the detection circuit 102 is rectified by the rectifier circuit 122, further converted to a digital value by the AD converter 132, and input to the outer diameter determination unit 162. Similarly, the thickness sensor L13 is connected to the detection circuit 103, and the output of the detection circuit 103 is rectified by the rectification circuit 123, further converted into a digital value by the AD converter 133, and input to the thickness determination means 163.

Further, the output of the AD converter 133 corresponding to the thickness sensor L13 is input to the pattern determining means 164 which is the main feature of the present invention, and each of the determining means 161 to 16
The judgment result of No. 4 is input to the general authenticity judging means 200, and finally the authenticity of the inserted coin is judged. Here, each of the detection circuits 101, 102, and 103 has the same configuration as that of the circuit including the bridge circuit 10, the oscillator OSC, and the differential amplifier circuit 11 except for the coin selection sensor L1 in FIG. Material sensor L1 for each constituent circuit
1, an outer diameter sensor L12 and a plate thickness sensor L13 are connected so as to replace the coin sorting sensor L1.

Each of the rectifier circuits 121, 122 and 123 corresponds to the rectifier circuit 12 shown in FIG.
Each of 132 and 133 corresponds to the AD converter 13 in FIG. Further, the material determining means 161, the outer diameter determining means 16
2. The difference detection circuit 1 shown in FIG.
4, comparison circuit 15, determination circuit 16, central value memory 17,
It has the same configuration as the circuit including the tolerance memory 18.

With such a configuration, the material determining means 16
1 is a waveform data from the material sensor L11 which is the output of the AD converter 131, that is, the peak value of the detection characteristic value of the material of the coin is the same as in the related art, as shown in FIG.
For each denomination, it is checked whether or not it is within a predetermined upper and lower limit width of the denomination with respect to the central value M determined by the denomination for each coin sorting device. If the seed exists, a true judgment signal is output, and if not, a false temporary judgment signal is output.

Similarly, the outer diameter judging means 162 determines whether the waveform data from the outer diameter sensor L12 output from the AD converter 132, that is, the peak value of the detection characteristic value of the outer diameter of the coin is related to the outer diameter and sorts coins. It is checked for each denomination whether or not it is within a predetermined upper and lower limit width of the denomination with respect to a center value M determined for each denomination for each device, and true if the corresponding denomination exists, and false if not. It outputs a temporary judgment signal.

Similarly, the sheet thickness judging means 163 also determines whether the waveform data from the sheet thickness sensor L13, which is the output of the AD converter 133, that is, the peak value of the detection value of the sheet thickness of the coin is related to the sheet thickness and the coin thickness. It is checked for each denomination whether or not it is within a predetermined upper and lower limit width of the denomination with respect to the center value M determined for each denomination for each sorting device.
If not, a false provisional judgment signal is output.

Next, the pattern determining means 16 which is the core of the present invention.
Operation 4 will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example of time-series waveform data obtained from the thickness sensor L13 for the inserted coin. That is, in the figure, the horizontal axis represents time t, and the vertical axis represents the digital conversion value X of the detection waveform from the thickness sensor L13 output from the AD converter 133.

In the example of FIG. 2, the waveform obtained from the plate thickness sensor L13 is sampled at intervals of about 1 ms by the AD converter 133, and the pattern determination means 164 converts the digital conversion value X as the sampling value into the figure. The respective sampling values are sequentially stored in a memory (not shown) from the time when the level exceeds the predetermined level LVS indicated by the one-dot chain line to the time when the level falls below the predetermined level LVS.

The pattern judging means 164 equally divides the section of the sampling data sequence obtained in the time series obtained at the end of the sampling into n pieces, and represents the representative value of the data in each of the divided sections (in this example, the boundary value). Value) X ₁ , X ₂ , ...
, X _n-1 . The pattern determining means 164 calculates a characteristic value Z represented by the following equation (1) based on the representative value.

[0026]

## EQU00001 ## Z = A ₁ .X ₁ + A ₂ .X ₂ +... + A _n-1 .X _n-1 (1) where data representative values X ₁ , X ₂ ,. The weighting factors A ₁ , A ₂ ,..., A _n-1 corresponding to each of X _n-1 are constants that make it easier to obtain the characteristics of the characteristic value Z.

For example, the representative value X shown in FIG.₁,
X_Two, ..., X_n-1From the weighting factor A _m-1= 1, A_m
= -2, A_{m + 1}= 1, other weighting factors A_i= 0 (however,
m−1, m, m + 1 among i = 1, 2,..., n−1
Excluding), a characteristic value Z expressed by the following equation (2) is obtained.
From this equation (2), the unevenness of the center of the coin
You can get the size.

[0028]

[Number 2] _{Z = X m-1 -2X m} + X m + 1 ··· (2) Although the representative value the value of the boundary of the data section divided into n in this example, every n each section of The average value, the maximum value, or the minimum value of the sampling data may be used as the representative value.

The pattern determining means 164 determines that the characteristic value Z obtained in this manner is the same as the characteristic value Z as described with reference to FIG.
It is checked for each denomination whether or not it is within a predetermined upper and lower limit width of the denomination with respect to the central value M determined for each denomination for each coin sorting device. Then, if there is a denomination whose characteristic value Z is within the upper / lower limit width, a true judgment signal is output, and if not, a false provisional judgment signal is output.

The comprehensive judging means 200 includes the material judging means 16
1, the outer diameter determining means 162, the sheet thickness determining means 163, the pattern determining means 164, and the true and false temporary determining signals are integrated, and there is a denomination in which all the temporary determining signals of the determining means 161 to 164 are true. At this time, the input coin is determined to be a genuine coin of the denomination.

[0031]

According to the present invention, the pattern of the coin is detected based on the waveform data obtained from the sensor (that is, a time-series data sequence obtained as the coin passes). Foreign currency that approximates genuine one can be eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram showing a circuit configuration of a main part as one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a waveform chart for explaining the operation of the pattern determining means of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a principle structural view showing a configuration of a sensor portion used in a conventional device and an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a principle structural diagram in which a sensor part corresponding to FIG. 3 is simplified.

FIG. 5 is a block circuit diagram showing a circuit configuration of a main part of a conventional device.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram for explaining the operation of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 coin insertion slot 2 coin passage 3 coin 4 gate 5 genuine coin passage 6 return passage L11 material sensor L12 outer diameter sensor L13 plate thickness sensor 101-103 detection circuit 121-123 rectifier circuit 131-133 AD converter 161 material determination means 162 outside Diameter determining means 163 Sheet thickness determining means 164 Pattern determining means 200 Total true / false determining means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A coin sorting apparatus in which a sensor is arranged along a coin path, wherein sampling is performed at a predetermined time interval for a signal area of a predetermined level or higher in a signal waveform obtained from the sensor as the coin passes. , The time-series data sequence indicating the magnitude of the signal is equally divided into a predetermined first plurality of sections, and at least a predetermined second data among the representative values of the data for each of the equally divided sections. A coin sorting apparatus comprising: authenticity determining means for determining the authenticity of the coin using a representative value of the data of the plurality of sections. 2. The coin sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
A coin sorting apparatus, wherein the authenticity judging means judges the authenticity of the coin using a predetermined linear expression using a representative value of data of the second plurality of sections as a variable. 3. The coin sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a representative value of the data of the section is a boundary value as data that is positioned at a boundary of the section, or an average value and a maximum value of the data of the section. Or a coin sorter characterized by having a minimum value.