JP2001216553A - Knifeless coin hopper device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To remove a knife from a coin hopper device and to simplify the stricture of a rotating disk. SOLUTION: The coin hopper device is provided at least a hood 12 for coin storage which is approximately cylindrical and is arranged so as to have the axial line oblique to a horizontal line, a disk 13 which is freely rotatably provided on the inner bottom of the hood and has a projecting part 16 to push out coins to the peripheral part, an escalator 20 which is formed on the hood and has an aperture through which coins pushed out by the projecting part are discharged to the outside and a passage which is connected to this aperture and through which coins are sent upward, and a stopper 30 which is set under the escalator and prevents coins in the passage from dropping.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin hopper for discharging a plurality of coins stored in a tank one by one. In particular, the present invention relates to a hopper device for sending out a plurality of coins stored in a bulk state one by one. The coin hopper device of the present invention is used for a vending machine including a medal lending machine, for example. Furthermore, the coin hopper device of the present invention is also used, for example, for currency exchange machines and game machines using medals.

[0002] The term "coin" in the present specification includes a small disc-shaped currency. The term “coin” in the present specification includes a disk such as a medal or a token used in a game or the like.

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of coin hopper devices have been developed so far. For example, a hopper device by the present applicant is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 62-151784. Japanese Utility Model Application No. Sho 62-151784 is published in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-45083.

Japanese Utility Model Application No. 62-151784 has obtained US Pat. No. 4,943,258. The above fairness 4-
A hopper device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 45083 is schematically shown in FIGS. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a conventional example. FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view showing a main part of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of FIG. 3 as viewed from the side and from above. First, FIG. 2 shows a hopper device 16 with an escalator 6 as a conventional example. The hopper device 16 has a slightly smaller lower base 23 in the center of a large circular disk 21.

A plurality of pins 25 are formed at equal intervals on the outer periphery of the disk 21. In other words, pedestal 2
3 and the pin 25 form a pocket for coins. Thus, when the disk 21 is rotated, the coins in the tank 20 are picked up one by one by the pocket. That is, coins in the tank 20 are picked up one by one by the outer edge of the base 23 and the pins 25. The coin is fed into the exit chute 1 by the knife 27 arranged in contact with the upper edge of the base 23.

That is, the knife 2 in contact with the upper edge of the base 23
The coin is fed into the exit chute 1 while being guided by the tip of the exit 7. The coin 2 sent to the exit chute 1 is sent further inside by the coin from the disk 21. Thus, coin 2 in exit chute 1 is disc 2
It is sent to the escalator 6 by a coin from 1. The exit chute 1 has a lower entrance where coins are pushed in and an upper exit 5 where coins are pushed out. The entrance and the exit 5 are communicated by a curved passage 4.

The outlet chute 1 has a large substantially rectangular back plate 8. The exit chute 1 is provided with cover plates 7A and 11 which are substantially triangular in size at the opposite corners of the back plate 8. The small substantially triangular cover plate 7A is fixed with a small spacer (not shown) therebetween to form a groove. The large substantially triangular cover plate 11 is shaved so as to form an oblique groove 9. Thus, a curved coin path 4 is formed in the exit chute 1 described above.

The long escalator 6 has a large back plate 61.
And a pair of thin spacers 62 and a pair of long cover plates 18. Therefore, an upright coin passage is formed in the escalator 6 described above. A long window 19 is formed between the pair of long cover plates 18. Above the escalator 6, a coin fall prevention device 17 is provided.
Has been fixed. The coin fall arrestor 17 is a ball 20
And a diamond-shaped retainer 21 for accommodating the ball 20. The retainer 21 has a vertically long groove 23 at the center for moving the ball 20 in the vertical direction (see FIG. 3).

The vertically long groove 23 is formed obliquely so that the upper part is wider and the lower part is narrower (see FIG. 4A). Thus, the ball 20 in the groove 23 passes through the window 19 and comes into contact with the surface 24 of the back plate 61. Therefore, when the coin 2 rises in the escalator 6, the ball 20 also rises due to the rise of the coin. When the coin 2 attempts to fall under its own weight, the ball 20 also falls. As a result, the ball 20 does not fall between the coin 2 and the groove 23. That is, the coin 2 rises in the escalator 6 but is prevented from falling.

[0009]

As described above, the conventional hopper device sends out coins one by one by the rotating disk 21 and the knife 27. In other words, the conventional hopper device sends out coins one by one using the base 23, the pins 25 and the knife 27. The present invention has been developed for the purpose of simplifying a conventional hopper device.
In other words, the present invention has been developed for the purpose of removing the knife from the hopper device to simplify the configuration. Specifically, the present invention has been developed for the purpose of removing the knife from the hopper device and simplifying the structure of the rotating disk.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided at least a hood for accommodating coins which is substantially cylindrical and whose central axis is inclined with respect to a horizontal line, and a hood for storing coins. A disk that is rotatably provided and has a protrusion for pushing out a coin to the periphery, an opening formed in the hood for discharging a coin pushed out by the protrusion, and a communication with the opening. A coin hopper device comprising: an escalator having a passage for sending out coins upward; and a stopper installed below the escalator to prevent the coin from falling in the passage. Further, the present invention is the coin hopper device, characterized in that the protruding portion has a longitudinal triangular shape and faces in the radial direction of the disk.
Further, the present invention is the coin hopper device, characterized in that the obtuse portion of the projection is oriented in the traveling direction of the disk.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view schematically showing a main part of an embodiment according to the present invention. First, the largest rectangle partially shown in FIG. 1 is a substrate 11 constituting a coin hopper device. This substrate 11
Is fixed by a base plate (not shown) and a pair of triangular frames (not shown) standing on the base plate. Therefore, the substrate 11 is fixed in a substantially upright state with a slight inclination. A large ring-shaped hood 12 made of resin is fixed on the substrate 11 by screwing (not shown).

A circular disk 13 is rotatably accommodated in the substantially cylindrical hood 12. The metal disk 13 is provided with a bearing mechanism (not shown) on the back as appropriate.
And is rotatably stored with the interposition of A drive shaft 1 for rotating the disk 13 is provided at the center of the disk 13.
5 is fixed. The disk 13 has the drive shaft 1
5 rotates clockwise in FIG. A plurality of protrusions 16 are formed in the peripheral portion of the disk 13 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction.

The projection 16 is formed in a triangular shape slightly longer in the radial direction of the disk 13. For example, an extension of the short side 17 of the protrusion 16 near the drive shaft 15 is formed to pass through the center of the drive shaft 15. The other short side 19 of the protrusion 16 is formed so as to be inclined by 40 degrees with respect to the short side 17. In other words, it is formed such that the angle between the short sides 17 and 19 facing the long side of the projection 16 is 140 degrees. The long side of the projection 16 is formed so as to intersect with the extension of the short side 17. The protrusion 16 is a disk 13
Is formed by projecting from the back side to the front side.

For example, a 1.5 mm high protrusion 16 is formed on the disk 13 by driving a 1.5 mm thick steel plate having a thickness of 3 mm. A slightly large opening 9 is formed at the lower edge of the cylindrical hood 12. The lower portion of the long escalator 20 is provided in the opening 9. The escalator 20 includes a long back plate 21 having a long width, a pair of thin spacers 22, and a pair of long cover plates 23. Backboard 21
Of the hood 12 is cut into an arc and slightly fitted into the opening 9 of the hood 12. The surface of the back plate 21 and the surface of the disk 13 have the same surface. A pair of thin spacers 22
Are fixed to each side of the surface of the back plate 21.

The lower end of the spacer 22 above the opening 9 is slanted. The pair of long cover plates 23 are fixed to respective surfaces of the pair of spacers 22. The lower end of the cover plate 23 above the opening 9 is slanted. Therefore, as is apparent from the above, a vertical passage P is formed in the elevator 20. A long window 25 is formed between the pair of long cover plates 23. Below the escalator 20, a coin stopper 30 is fixed. The coin stopper 30 includes a ball 31 and a wrapping body 32 for holding the ball 31.
Consists of

The wrapping body 32 has a vertically long groove 33 for moving the ball 31 in the vertical direction at the center. The vertically elongated groove 33 is formed obliquely so that the upper part is wide and the lower part is narrow.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In this embodiment having the above-described structure, a substantially pan-shaped tank (not shown) is appropriately mounted on the hood 12. And a lot of coins are piled up in this tank and disc 1
3 is rotated clockwise. As a result, FIG.
The coin M is conveyed upward from below by the protrusion 16 of the rotating disk 13 as shown in FIG.

In other words, the coin M moved by the short side 17 of the protrusion 16 is guided by the hood 12 and is sent upward from below. When the coin M1 sent upward by the protrusion 16 reaches the opening 9, the coin P1 of the escalator 20
Roll in. The coin M2 that has rolled into the passage P is further conveyed upward by the short side 19 of the projection 16. The path P thus pushed up by the short side 19 of the projection 16
The coin M3 inside reaches the ball 31. When the coin M3 reaches the ball 31, the coin 3 rises and the ball 3
One also rises.

However, when the coin M3 attempts to fall under its own weight, the ball 31 also falls. As a result,
The ball 31 is not dropped between the coin M3 and the groove 33. That is, the coin M3 is the escalator 20
Although it rises inside, the fall is prevented. In other words, even if the protrusion 16 is separated from the coin M3, the coin M3
Does not fall from the escalator 20. Although the shape of the protrusion 16 is a long triangular shape, it goes without saying that other shapes may be used.

For example, it goes without saying that the shape of the projection 16 may be a triangle. In addition, it is needless to say that the extension of the short side 17 of the projection 16 does not have to pass through the center of the drive shaft 15. In addition, it goes without saying that the short side 19 of the protrusion 16 may be bent at a desired angle with respect to the short side 17. In addition, it goes without saying that the long side of the projection 16 does not need to intersect with the extension of the short side 17. The disk 13 is made of a steel plate having a thickness of 3 mm, but may be 2 mm or 4 mm. Although the height of the projection 16 is 1.5 mm, it is needless to say that a desired height may be used.

[0020]

According to the present invention as described above, the coin hopper device can be simplified by adding a simple structure. Specifically, the knife can be removed only by forming a slightly large triangular projection on the rotating disk of the hopper device. In other words, the present invention has the great advantage that the rotating disk can be simplified by removing the knife guiding the coin.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view schematically showing a main part of an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view showing a main part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 as viewed from the side and from above, respectively.

[Explanation of symbols]

 M, M1, M2, M3: coin P: passage 9: opening 12: hood 13: disk 16: projection 20: escalator 30: stopper

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. At least a hood for storing coins, which is at least substantially cylindrical and whose central axis is oblique to a horizontal line, and a hood provided rotatably on an inner bottom of the hood. A disc having a protrusion for pushing out a coin, an opening formed in the hood for discharging a coin pushed out by the protrusion, and a communication with the opening for sending the coin upward. A coin hopper device comprising: an escalator having a passage; and a stopper installed below the escalator for preventing coins from falling in the passage. 2. The coin hopper device according to claim 1, wherein said protrusion has a longitudinal triangular shape and faces in a radial direction of said disk. 3. The coin hopper device according to claim 2, wherein the obtuse portion of the projection is oriented in the direction of travel of the disk.