JP2004110744A - Hopper for medals - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a hopper for medals which reduces assembly and adjustment processes of components and which can manufacture medals at lower cost and in shorter period of time in the manufacture of the medals. <P>SOLUTION: The hopper of the medals transmits the medals transmitted from a supply port provided at the bottom of a bucket which accumulates many medals to a discharging path one by one. The hopper is provided with a conical substrate whose upper surface is inclined downward from an approximate center point toward the periphery direction, a rotary board which is freely rotatably supported on the substrate by having a back surface corresponding to conical inclination and on which a plurality of openings penetrated with inner diameter slightly larger than the outer shapes of the medals are arranged at positions at equivalent distance from the center point and a plurality of projections corresponding to the conical inclination protruded on the back surface of the rotary board, enter the openings and push out the medals reaching a receiving surface to the rotating direction of the rotary board respectively. In addition, the hopper of the medals is constituted so that the rotary board is driven by a motor by engaging a rotary shaft with polygonal cross-section integrally formed with a drive shaft of the motor in a shaft hole of a pivotally support part of the rotary board. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a medal hopper device for collecting a large number of discs such as medals and coins in a non-arranged arrangement, aligning them in a predetermined direction, and sending them one by one. .
[0002]
2. Description of the Related Art Hoppers for medals (including coins, tokens, etc.) are widely used as money changers for various coins, and as components such as slot machines and medal lending devices in game arcades. The structure of such a medal type hopper device is generally roughly divided into a bucket portion for accumulating a large number of medals in a non-arrangement, and a medal type accumulated in the bucket portion, which is sent out one by one in the same direction. It comprises a sending section, a sensor section for detecting the actually sent medals and counting the number of sent medals, and a housing for supporting them.
In general, the housing of a medal hopper device is inclined at an upper portion at a fixed angle, and a substrate having a plurality of circular concave portions is mounted on the inclined surface. An opening at the bottom of the bucket is connected to the top of the substrate in accordance with the inclination of the substrate, and the medals accumulated in the bucket are constantly pressed against the substrate surface. A rotating plate having a plurality of circular openings slightly larger than the diameter of medals is provided in the circular concave portion of the substrate in conjunction with a rotating means such as a motor. Protrusions for rotating medals are provided on the rear surface of the rotating plate so as to protrude toward the substrate, and a ring that contacts the peripheral surface of the medals is provided between the rotating plate and the substrate. Is provided.
When the rotating plate rotates, medals accumulated in the bucket fall from the opening of the rotating plate along the substrate surface, are loosely fitted one by one into each opening, and are pushed by the projections on the back surface of the rotating plate. It rotates while bringing the peripheral surface into contact with the ring. Then, the medals are thrown out of the housing side of the hopper device for medals through a rail of an ejection path provided diagonally above the substrate recess toward the housing side. As described above, the medal type hopper device rotates the rotating plate, drops the medals accumulated in a non-array at the top one by one into the plurality of openings of the rotating plate, aligns them in the same direction, and removes the medals from the rotating plate. In general, the data is sequentially transmitted.
[0005]
However, since the rotating shaft used in the above-mentioned delivery mechanism is interlocked with the driving shaft of the motor via a gear or the like, a mechanical part such as a gear is used. However, poor meshing due to wear and the like often caused the rotating plate to be unable to rotate.
Further, when the rotating shaft and the driving shaft of the motor are linked via a gear or the like, it takes time and effort to design the rotational speed of the rotating shaft and obtain a necessary torque, which causes an increase in cost. Was.
Of course, in manufacturing such a hopper device for medals, the mechanism for interlocking the rotating shaft and the drive shaft of the motor via gears or the like requires accurate positioning and mounting. There was a hanging process.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and relates a rotating shaft having a polygonal cross-section integrally formed with a driving shaft of a motor to a shaft hole of a shaft mounting portion of a rotating plate. In combination, the rotating plate is directly driven by the drive shaft of the motor, and the normally used gears are eliminated to provide a medal hopper device with high reliability and high transmission efficiency. With the goal.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a medal hopper device that can be manufactured at a lower cost and in a shorter time by reducing the steps of assembling and adjusting parts when manufacturing the medal hopper device.
[0010]
In order to achieve the above object, a medal type hopper device of the present invention uses a medal type fed from a supply port provided at the bottom of a bucket for accumulating a large number of medals. In a hopper device for medals to be sent out one by one to a throw-out path, a conical substrate whose upper surface is inclined downward from a substantially central point toward an outer peripheral direction, and a back surface corresponding to the conical inclination on the substrate is provided. A plurality of openings penetrated with an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer shape of the medals, and a plurality of openings arranged at equidistant positions from a center point; A plurality of projections corresponding to the conical inclination, each of which pushes out medals that have entered the opening and reached the receiving surface in the rotation direction of the rotating plate, and furthermore, a motor is driven in a shaft hole of a shaft attachment portion of the rotating plate. axis Engages a rotary shaft of polygonal cross-section which is integrally formed, is characterized in that the rotary plate and adapted to drive the motor.
The hopper device for medals of the present invention is characterized in that the rotating shaft having the polygonal cross section is made of engineering plastic.
[0012] The medal hopper device of the present invention is also characterized in that the rotating shaft having the polygonal cross section is formed by forming a plurality of ridges radially at predetermined intervals on a side circumference. .
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the medal hopper device of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view showing one embodiment of a medal hopper device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state where a rotating plate is removed, FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state where a rotating plate is assembled, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a rear view of the rotating plate, FIG. 6 is a central sectional view of the rotating plate, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the conical substrate in an assembled state.
1 to 3 showing a medal type hopper device using the present invention, a large number of medal types 3 having a constant outer diameter are randomly accumulated in a bucket 2. A supply port 4 is formed at the bottom of the bucket 2, and medals 3 are sent to the medal ejection section 5 through the supply port 4. The medal throwing unit 5 performs an action of throwing the medals 3 one by one in a fixed posture. Note that the bucket 2 is connected to the medal throwing unit 5 using a bearing and a latch, and can be easily opened and closed or removed during maintenance of the hopper device 1.
The medal throw-out section 5 includes a housing 8, a conical substrate 9, a rotating plate 11, and the like, as will be described in detail later. As shown in FIG. 3, a motor 12, an input / output unit 14, and the like are incorporated in the housing 8, and signals are transmitted to external devices via a connector 15. Then, when the number signal of the payout of the medals 3 is input from the external device, the motor 12 is driven, and the payout of the medals 3 is executed. Then, when the number of payouts matches the number signal, the drive of the motor 12 is stopped, and one payout process of the medals 3 is completed.
In the upper part of the housing 8, a circular recess 16 and a medal throwing path 17 reaching one side of the housing 8 are formed. A conical substrate 9 is formed in the circular concave portion 16, and the conical substrate 9 is formed in a conical shape in which the upper surface is inclined downward from the substantially central point toward the outer peripheral direction. As shown in FIG. 2, an opening 18 is formed at the center of the concave portion 16 of the conical substrate 9, and a rotating shaft 19 projects through the opening 18. On the other hand, a plurality of rollers 21 are attached to the upper surface of the outer frame of the conical substrate 9 at predetermined intervals in the length direction of the outer frame. The roller 21 is used to freely rotate the rotating plate 11 mounted on the rotating shaft 19 on the conical substrate 9, and sets an interval at which the medals 3 can pass on the rotating plate 11 on the conical substrate 9. Hold in the state it was kept.
The rotary shaft 19 has, for example, a star-shaped cross section, and engages with a shaft hole 23 (see FIG. 5) provided in a shaft attachment portion 22 of the rotary plate 11 to drive the rotary plate 11 to rotate. These are rotated by the drive of the motor 12. When the motor 12 is driven, the rotating plate 11 is rotatably mounted on a roller 21 provided on the conical substrate 9 and rotates while maintaining a certain gap.
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the rotary plate 11 has a conical surface shape inclined downward from the center toward the outer periphery, and has five circular openings 34 having the same radius. They are arranged at equal pitch. The inside diameter of these openings 34 is slightly larger than the outside diameter of the medals 3, and a part of the periphery of the opening 34 is provided with an inclined surface 34 a that is oblique to the periphery of the rotating plate 11. The inclined surface 34a has a function of diffusing medals. Further, a projection 35 corresponding to a conical inclination is provided on the rear surface of the rotating plate 11 so as to correspond to each opening 34. The projections 35 corresponding to these conical inclinations are formed in a circular arc shape with a conical inclination so as to push medals toward the medal throwing path 17 on the conical substrate 9. The medals 3 reaching the belt-shaped ring 37 corresponding to the following conical inclination serving as a surface are pushed out in the direction of the medal throwing path 17 along the rotation direction of the rotating plate 11. Since the belt-like ring 37 corresponding to the conical inclination enters the annular groove 36 (see FIG. 2) formed in the conical substrate 9, the rotation of the rotary plate 11 does not hinder anything.
On the back surface of the rotating plate 11, there is provided a receiving surface comprising a band-shaped ring 37 provided across the plurality of openings of the rotating plate 11 and corresponding to a conical inclination rotating integrally with the rotating plate 11. Is provided. The belt-shaped ring 37 corresponding to the conical inclination receives the medals 3 that have passed through the opening 34 and transfers the medals 3 along the rotation direction with the rotation of the rotating plate 11. Has a function of holding the head so as not to face the direction of the rotation shaft 19.
The conical substrate 9 is further provided with a pair of medal sending rollers 38a and 38b in a passage between the medal throwing path 17 and the rotating plate 11, as shown in FIG. The medal sending roller 38a among the medal sending rollers 38a and 38b is immovably attached to the conical substrate 9, and the medal sending roller 38b is provided on the conical substrate 9 along the outer peripheral direction of the rotating plate 11 in a predetermined direction. It is mounted so that it can move only within the range. The medal sending roller 38b is urged by a spring (not shown) in a direction to enter the medal passage. When the medals 3 pass through the medals passage, the medals sending roller 38b is pushed down in the retreat direction by the medals 3, and the medals 3 are passed when the medals 3 pass between the medal sending rollers 38a and 38b. 3 is given an urging force in the feeding direction. A sensor is incorporated inside the medal throwing path 17 to detect that the medal 3 has passed through the medal passage. This detection signal is input to the control side, and the number of paid-out medals 3 is counted.
The operation of the above configuration will be described. The medals 3 accumulated in the bucket 2 in FIG. 3 are constantly pushed in the direction of the supply port 4 by the weight. When a signal is input from the control side via the connector 15 so as to discharge a specified number of medals 3 from a device in which the medal hopper device 1 of the present invention is incorporated, the motor 12 is turned on to turn the rotating plate 11. To rotate. In the opening 34 slightly larger than the diameter of the medals 3 of the rotating plate 11, the medals 3 easily fall down by the rotation of the rotating plate 11, and are received by the band-shaped ring 37 corresponding to the conical inclination.
The medals 3, which have fallen into the opening 34, are held by a belt-like ring 37 corresponding to a conical inclination and conveyed in a circular shape in the recess 16 of the housing 8 as the rotating plate 11 rotates. It is pushed out by the projection 35 corresponding to the arc-shaped conical inclination on the back surface of the plate 11 and moves toward the outer periphery of the rotating plate 11. When the rotating plate 11 further rotates and the opening 34 in which the medals 3 have fallen reaches the position of the medals sending rollers 38a and 38b, the medals 3 are moved by the projections 35 corresponding to the conical inclinations. , 38b. Then, the medals 3 push down the movable medal sending rollers 38b and pass between the medal sending rollers 38a and 38b.
Thus, when the medals 3 reach the medal throwing path 17, the medals 3 pass near the sensor. At this time, the sensor detects the medals 3 and sends a passing signal of the medals 3 to the control side. The medals 3 are sent out of the housing 8 by the urging force of the medal sending roller 38b.
When the control side receives passing signals of the specified number of medals 3 from the sensor, it immediately turns off the motor 12 and stops the rotating plate 11.
In the conventional medal type hopper device, if the adjustment of the gap between the rotating plate and the substrate is slightly misaligned, the medals are easily caught in the gap and clogging of the medals easily occurs. However, in the medal type hopper device of the present invention, since the belt-shaped ring corresponding to the conical inclination functioning as the medal receiving surface is formed integrally with the rotary plate, the medal type is formed between the rotary plate and the conical substrate. The problem that medals are clogged by being caught in the gaps between them can be solved.
Further, in the medal type hopper device of this embodiment, when the medal type 3 is pushed out from between the medal type sending rollers 38a and 38b, the medal type sending roller 38b is urged out of the housing 8 by the urging force of the medal type sending roller 38b. Since the medals are sent out, the medals can be automatically sent out of the housing from the medal throw-out path 17 and the structure can be made very simple.
[0027]
As described above, according to the medal hopper device of the present invention, the rotary shaft having a polygonal cross section integrally formed with the drive shaft of the motor is formed in the shaft hole of the shaft attachment portion of the rotary plate. Engagement allows the rotary plate to be driven directly by the drive shaft of the motor and changes the commonly used shaft shape, so the rotary plate has good detachability, high reliability, and high delivery efficiency. It has become possible to provide a medal type hopper device with good quality.
Further, in the manufacture of the medal hopper device, it is possible to provide a medal hopper device which can be manufactured at a lower cost and in a shorter time by reducing the steps of assembling and adjusting parts.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view showing one embodiment of a medal hopper device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a state where a rotary plate is removed.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state where a rotating plate is assembled.
FIG. 4 is a front view of a rotating plate.
FIG. 5 is a rear view of the rotating plate.
FIG. 6 is a central sectional view of the rotating plate.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the conical substrate in an assembled state.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 1 hopper device for medals 2 bucket 3 medals 4 supply port 5 medals ejection section 8 housing 9 conical substrate 11 rotating plate 12 motor 14 input / output section 15 connector 16 circular recess 17 medals ejection path 18 opening 19 rotation Shaft 21 Roller 22 Shaft attachment part 23 Shaft hole 34 Opening 34a Inclined surface 35 Projection (corresponding to conical inclination)
36 annular groove 37 belt-shaped ring (corresponding to conical inclination)
38a, 38b Medals sending roller

Claims (3)

In a medal hopper device that sends out medals sent from a supply port provided at the bottom of a bucket that accumulates a large number of medals one by one to an ejection path, the upper surface faces downward from a substantially central point toward an outer peripheral direction. The center point is a plurality of openings that are rotatably supported on the substrate and have a back surface corresponding to the conical inclination and that have an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer shape of medals. A rotating plate arranged at a position equidistant from, and a conical incline projecting from the back of the rotating plate and pushing out medals entering the opening and reaching the receiving surface in the rotating direction of the rotating plate, respectively. A plurality of corresponding projections are provided, and a rotary shaft having a polygonal cross section integrally formed with a drive shaft of a motor is engaged with a shaft hole of a shaft attachment portion of the rotary plate to drive the rotary plate with a motor. What you did Hopper device of the token such that the butterflies. The hopper device for medals according to claim 1, wherein the rotation axis of the polygonal cross section is made of engineering plastic. 3. The medal hopper device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of protrusions are formed radially at predetermined intervals on a side circumference of the rotation shaft having the polygonal cross section.

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