JP2002015352A - Change returning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a change returning apparatus enhancing quality regarding the handling of change by preventing jamming of coins in a coins storage part by means of a very simple arrangement, while reducing costs and increasing reliability. SOLUTION: An inclined face 9 having a V-shaped cross section is formed in a side face portion of a change box 9. When inserted in the change box 9, coins are stacked along the inclined face 10 in the change box 9; when the coins inserted are stacked to a certain height, the inclined face 10 can break the stack of coins 9 inwards.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a change return device installed in a vending machine such as a ticket vending machine, and more particularly to a change return device in which the shape of a coin accommodating portion for storing coins is improved. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, vending machines have become very popular, and various products are sold through vending machines. The advantage of a vending machine is that it can be operated even without an unmanned person, but it is necessary to secure a high degree of reliability and safety for the transfer and maintenance of money. Above all, there is a demand for accurate payment of change.
Generally, change processing is performed by a change return device called a hopper.

Here, an example of application of a change return device to a ticket vending machine will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a change return device applied to a ticket vending machine, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a coin storage unit in the change return device shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a cross section of the coin storage unit shown in FIG. FIG.

[0004] As shown in FIG. 4, an operation button 7 and a coin slot 8 are arranged on a front portion 2 of the ticket vending machine 1.
An insertion path 3 for sliding coins downward is connected behind the insertion slot 8, and a change box 4 as a coin storage unit is disposed below a lower end of the insertion path 3. The change box 4 is formed of a rectangular parallelepiped member having an open upper surface, and coins are returned in the center of one of the lower edges of the opposing side surfaces (side surfaces positioned front and back when viewed from the ticket vending machine). A mouth 5 is formed, and a square notch 6 is formed in the center of the other upper edge.

The coin return slot 5 is provided with a coin return tray 13 located on the front part 2 of the ticket vending machine 1. A coin passage 14 is provided below the notch 6, and a safe 15 is connected to a lower end of the passage 14. The change box 4 is designed so that the amount of stored coins is limited when coins are accumulated from the bottom surface to the height of the notch 6.

In the change return device having the above configuration,
When there is change in accordance with the amount of coins inserted from the insertion slot 2, coins for the change are discharged from the change box 4 to the return tray 13 through the return slot 5. In this way, the change return device can pay the user for change.
Also, coins inserted from the insertion path 3 are changed in the change box 4
When the coins in the change box 4 exceed the capacity limit, the coins naturally overflow from the notch 6 through the passage 14 into the safe 15. Therefore, coins can be automatically transferred from the change box 4 to the safe 15.

[0007]

However, the above prior art has the following problems. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, since the conventional change box 4 has a vertical wall surface, coins are easily stacked vertically along this surface. When coins are stacked vertically, the side surfaces of the stacked coins are also substantially vertical, and coins newly inserted into the change box 4 are also stacked vertically along the vertical side surfaces. As a result, coins are concentrated near the side of the change box 4.

As described above, when the stacking of coins is biased in the change box 4, a large number of coins overlap on the side surface of the change box 4 where a large number of coins are present. Large loads are applied to coins. Therefore, even if the change box 4 tries to eject coins from the return port 5, the coins cannot be ejected smoothly, and coins may be jammed.

In addition, with the spread of vending machines, the vending machines have been reduced in size and size in recent years, and the change box 4 has also been reduced in size. Therefore, the volume of the change box 4 is reduced, and the amount of stored coins is reduced. For this reason, the uneven distribution of coins in the change box 4 as described above is likely to occur, and coins may be frequently jammed.

If coins are jammed in the return opening 5, troubles such as no change or shortage of change occur. When this kind of trouble occurs, there is no manager near the vending machine, and there is a concern that the user may hit or kick the vending machine and damage the vending machine. In order to avoid such a breakage accident, it is extremely important to prevent a coin from being jammed in the return port 5.

As a conventional example other than performing overflow of coins due to free fall from the notch 6, a return passage 5 is connected to a guide passage, and the guide passage is moved to return a coin discharge destination to a return tray. A change return device that switches from the 13 side to the safe 15 side has also been proposed.

According to such a change return device, regardless of the limit of the change box 4, the guide passage is switched by a solenoid or the like before the return opening 5 is clogged.
Coins can be sent from the return port 5 to the safe 15. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a coin from being jammed in the return slot 5 by storing only a small amount of coins in the change box 4. However, in this conventional example, a guide passage for performing a switching operation and a solenoid as a driving source for the guide passage are indispensable. For this reason, there have been problems such as an increase in complexity and size of the apparatus and an increase in manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object a very simple configuration to prevent coins from being jammed in a coin storage unit, improve the quality of change processing, and reduce costs. It is an object of the present invention to provide a change return device which reduces the cost and improves the reliability.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a coin accommodating portion for storing coins is provided, and a coin insertion path is disposed above the coin accommodating portion. A return port for coins is formed near a lower edge portion on the side surface portion of the coin storage portion, and a notch portion is formed near the upper edge portion, and coins overflowing from the notch portion are stored in the notch portion. A change return device to which a safe is connected has the following technical features.

[0015] The invention of claim 1 is characterized in that an inclined surface is formed on a side surface of the coin accommodating portion.

In the first aspect of the present invention having the above configuration,
When coins are inserted into the coin storage unit, even if coins are piled up along the side surface of the coin storage unit, the inclined surface formed on the side surface of the coin storage unit places the stacked coins inside the coin storage unit. Can be broken. For this reason, the coins can be evenly stacked in the coin storage portion without being biased, and if the coins are accumulated up to the limit of the coin storage portion, the coins smoothly overflow from the cutout portion to the safe. Therefore, the coin storage section only needs to store coins within the limit at all times, and only a predetermined amount of coins is stored near the return port. As a result, coins are not jammed in the return port, and the coin storage unit can reliably discharge coins that are changeable from the return port.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the quality of change processing can be improved, and excellent reliability can be obtained. Further, by suppressing the occurrence of troubles related to change, it is possible to avoid an accident such that the vending machine is damaged or damaged. In addition, the above-mentioned effects can be obtained by an extremely simple configuration such as forming an inclined surface on the side surface of the coin accommodating portion, so that the configuration is not complicated and the production cost is not increased, and the cost is reduced. It is advantageous.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the change return device according to the first aspect, the inclined surface is formed to have a U-shaped cross section.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even when the number of coins accommodated in the coin accommodating portion is small, the coin slides on the lower inclined surface of the V-shape and moves the coin to the center of the coin accommodating portion. It can be gathered near the club. Therefore, regardless of the amount of coins in the coin storage unit, the coins are always stacked uniformly.
As a result, it is possible to increase the certainty of the overflow from the notch to the safe, and prevent coin jamming.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (1) Representative Embodiment [Configuration] Hereinafter, a typical embodiment of the present invention will be described.
A specific description will be given with reference to FIGS. This embodiment includes the first and second aspects of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a coin accommodating portion in the configuration of the present embodiment.
FIG. In this embodiment, FIGS.
Similar to the conventional example shown in FIG. 6, this is a change return device applied to a ticket vending machine, and the same members as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the present embodiment is characterized by the shape of a change box 9 which is a coin accommodating portion. That is, the change box 9 is provided with four side surfaces, and each side surface is formed by an inclined surface 10 having a U-shaped cross section. More specifically, the bent portion of the U-shape is located near the lower side of the side surface portion, has a bulge on the lower side, and has a shape that gradually narrows upward.

[Operation and Effect] The operation coin of the present embodiment having the above configuration is as follows. That is, when coins are inserted into the change box 9, coins are stacked on the change box 9 along the inclined surface 10. At this time, when the inserted coins are piled up to a certain height, the inclined surface 1
0 can break the coin inside the change box 9. Therefore, the inserted coins can be uniformly stacked in the change box 9 without being biased toward the side of the change box 9. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, even when the number of coins stored in the change box 9 is small, the coins slide on the lower inclined surface 10 of the V-shape, and the coins are collected near the center of the coin storage unit. Can be. Therefore, the coins can be uniformly stacked regardless of the amount of coins in the change box 9.

If coins are evenly stacked in the change box 9, when the coins are accumulated in the change box 9 to the limit, the coins can smoothly overflow from the notch 6 to the safe 15. As a result, only coins within the limit always exist in the change box 9, and when the change box 9 discharges coins to be changed from the return port 5, coins can be reliably discharged from the return port 5. Coin jamming can be prevented.

According to the above-described embodiment, since coins are not jammed, the quality of change processing can be improved and high reliability can be obtained. In addition, by suppressing the occurrence of jamming of coins, troubles such as shortage of change can be prevented. Therefore, it is also possible to avoid a ticket vending machine from being damaged due to the occurrence of the trouble. Moreover, the side surface of the change box 9 is inclined 10
Since the above-described effects can be obtained with a very simple configuration such as that described above, the configuration is not complicated and the cost is not increased, and the system is economically excellent.

(2) Other Embodiments The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. If the coin accommodating portion has an inclined surface formed on a side surface portion, the coin accommodating portion is not limited thereto. The shape can be changed as appropriate. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a change box 11 having a trapezoidal overall cross-sectional shape with a straight inclined surface 12 as a side surface.
It does not matter.

Also, only the inclined surface may be detachably attached to the side surface of the coin accommodating portion. According to such an embodiment, the inclined surface can be easily formed in the conventional coin accommodating portion. Can be. Further, the change return device of the present invention is applicable not only to ticket vending machines but also to all types of vending machines.

[0027]

As described above, according to the change return device of the present invention, coins inserted into the coin accommodating portion can be inclined by the extremely simple structure of forming the inclined surface on the side surface of the coin accommodating portion. And the overflow from the notch to the safe can be carried out reliably, so that coins can be prevented from being jammed at the return port, thereby improving the quality of change processing, reducing costs and improving reliability. Improvement can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a coin accommodating portion in a configuration of a typical embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a coin accommodating portion in the configuration of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a coin accommodating portion in a configuration of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a change return device applied to a general ticket vending machine.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a coin accommodating portion in the change return device shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the coin accommodating section shown in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ticket vending machine 2 ... Front part 3 ... Coin insertion path 4, 9, 11 ... Change box 5 ... Coin return port 6 ... Notch part 7 ... Operation button 8 ... Coin insertion port 10, 12 ... Inclined surface 13 ... Coin return tray 14 ... Coin passage 15 ... Safe

Claims (2)

[Claims] A coin accommodating portion for storing coins is provided, a coin insertion path is disposed above the coin accommodating portion, and a coin is returned near a lower edge of a side portion of the coin accommodating portion. In a change return device in which a mouth is formed with a notch in the vicinity of an upper edge, and a safe for storing coins overflowing from the notch is connected to the notch, a side surface of the coin accommodating portion. A change return device characterized in that an inclined surface is formed in the portion. 2. The change returning device according to claim 1, wherein the inclined surface is formed to have a cross-section in the shape of an inverted letter.