JP2013228905A - Coin lifter device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coin lifter device capable of dissolving coin jamming of a lift transportation path.SOLUTION: A coin lifter device 1 rotates an L-shaped belt member 7 in a normal direction by the normal rotation of a motor 15, and lifts change coins through a vertical direction coin transportation path 32 to discharge them to the outside. When the coin lifter device 1 detects coin jamming in lifting coins, after temporarily stopping the motor 15, it reversely rotates the motor 15 and rotates the L-shaped belt member 7 in a reverse direction with respect to a normal transportation direction. Then, the coin lifter device 1 temporarily stops the motor 15 again, after that, normally rotates the motor 15 again, and returns to the operation of normal coin transportation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a coin lifter device that lifts a taken-in coin and discharges it to the outside.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a coin lifter device that receives coins, which are changed cash after settlement, and lifts the coins to the outside is known to vending machines, parking fee automatic settlement machines, and the like (for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4). etc). This type of coin lifter device collects coins that have been dropped from an upstream device such as a coin identification device at the same time by a coin receiving unit, lifts this coin group upward by an internal belt member, and discharges the coins. To the outside.

Japanese Patent No. 2701505 Japanese Utility Model Publication 1-160581 JP 2003-22466 A JP-A-3-171280

  By the way, in this type of coin lifter device, the maximum number of coins that can be lifted up at one time on the lift conveyance path, that is, the amount of coins that can be conveyed is determined. Therefore, when trying to list the number of sheets that exceeds the amount that can be conveyed in the lift conveyance path, there is a problem that coins are jammed in the lift conveyance path, and the coin lifting operation is stopped due to the clogging of coins. Incidentally, the amount of coins that can be transported is determined in combination by, for example, the thickness and number of coins, the width of the lift transport path, and the control related to coin transport.

  The objective of this invention is providing the coin lifter apparatus which can eliminate the coin clogging of a lift conveyance path.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, a coin receiving part that takes in a coin that has fallen, a lifter body that has a coin inlet at the lower part and is erected on the side of the coin receiving part, and a coin An endless L-shaped belt member having a protrusion on the conveying surface to be conveyed and having a flat part and a vertical part by extending over the coin receiving part and the lifter body, and a coin presser provided on the lifter body An attaching portion and a driving means for driving the L-shaped belt member, and a plurality of coins taken in by the coin receiving portion are placed on a flat portion of the L-shaped belt member driven by the driving means. A coin that is transported to the lifter main body and that supports the plurality of coins from below by the protrusions of the L-shaped belt member and lifts the plurality of coins upward while being sandwiched between the vertical portion and the coin pressing portion. Lifter When a coin clogging occurs when a coin that exceeds the amount that can be conveyed enters the lift conveyance path that can convey multiple coins at the same time, the occurrence of the coin clogging is detected. And the driving means is driven in a direction opposite to the direction of the conveyance only for a short time such that the L-shaped belt member does not convey the coin to the outside of the coin inlet when the coin jam occurs. The gist of the present invention is to provide a conveyance control means for separating coins that overlap each other by driving in the reverse direction to eliminate coin clogging.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, when coin clogging is detected in the lift conveyance path, the L-shaped belt member is driven in the reverse direction by driving the driving means in the direction opposite to the normal conveyance direction. Therefore, since the coins jammed by this reverse driving are loosened, it becomes possible to eliminate the coin jams. Further, since the reverse drive time of the drive means at this time is set to a short time, the clogged coins are not returned to the coin entrance when the L-shaped belt member is reversely driven.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate coin clogging in the lift conveyance path.

The perspective view of the coin lifter device of one embodiment. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of a coin lifter apparatus. The enlarged view near a coin discharge part. The exploded perspective view of a movable plate. The expanded sectional view near the coin entrance of a lifter body. The perspective view which shows the external appearance of a rotation detection sensor. The electrical block diagram of a coin lifter apparatus. The operation | movement figure when the coin which has fallen gets on the flat part of an L-shaped belt member. The operation | movement figure when defeating with the leaf | plate spring part the coin which rotates while standing the flat part of an L-shaped belt member. The operation | movement figure when dropping the coin which got on the inclined board of the upper surface of a leaf | plate spring part. The operation | movement figure when lifting a coin group with a protrusion. The operation | movement figure when lifting up a coin group with the perpendicular | vertical part of an L-shaped belt member, and a coin pressing part. The state figure which shows a mode that the coin clogging generate | occur | produced in the vertical direction coin conveyance path. The flowchart performed when coins are jammed.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of a coin lifter device embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[Overall configuration of coin lifter device]
As shown in FIG. 1, the coin lifter device 1 is provided with a coin receiving unit 2 that receives a falling coin, and a lifter body 3 that is erected on the side of the coin receiving unit 2. On the upper surface of the coin receiving portion 2, an opening 4 for receiving the falling coin is formed over the entire upper surface. On one side of the opening 4 on the front side of the paper surface, a sloped coin guide wall 5 is provided for guiding a falling coin to the inside of the coin receiving part 2 by a slope. The lifter body 3 is formed in an elongated shape in the apparatus height direction (Z-axis direction in FIG. 1), and the coin receiving portion 2 is disposed at the root.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lower end of the lifter body 3 is formed with a coin inlet 6 through which coins are guided during lifting. Inside the coin lifter device 1, an L-shaped belt member 7 is installed to lift up the coin guided from the coin inlet 6 upward. The L-shaped belt member 7 extends in an L shape over the coin receiving portion 2 and the lifter body 3. That is, the L-shaped belt member 7 has both ends stretched around a pair of pulleys 8 and is folded back at approximately 90 degrees by the pulley 9 and the pair of bearings 10 and 11 at the lower end of the lifter body 3, thereby providing an endless L-shape. Shape. The L-shaped belt member 7 has a flat portion 12 located in the coin receiving portion 2 and a vertical portion 13 located in the lifter body 3, and a plurality of coins placed on the flat portion 12 are moved upward by the vertical portion 13. Lift to. The bearings 10 and 11 are disposed at a boundary portion 14 between the flat portion 12 and the vertical portion 13, and the L-shaped belt member 7 is pressed and bent from above at the boundary portion 14.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a motor 15 that drives the L-shaped belt member 7 is attached to the upper side wall of the lifter body 3. The motor 15 is connected to the pulley 8 at the upper end via the gear mechanism 16, and drives the L-shaped belt member 7 by turning the pulley 8. A control unit 17 that controls the operation of the coin lifter device 1 is provided at the center of the side wall of the lifter body 3. The control unit 17 controls the motor 15 to execute a coin transport operation. The motor 15 corresponds to a driving unit.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the L-shaped belt member 7 has a pair of protrusions 18 that support the coin from below when the coin is lifted by the L-shaped belt member 7. A plurality of sets are formed along the direction of arrow A in FIG. The protrusion 18 is formed in a shape in which two claws are lined up and down. The pair of protrusions 18 are arranged at the same left and right height in the same set.

  The upper side wall of the lifter body 3 is provided with a coin discharge portion 19 for discharging the coin lifted up by the L-shaped belt member 7 to the outside. The coin discharge portion 19 is provided so as to project along the surface direction of the L-shaped belt member 7 located in the lifter body 3 (XZ plane direction in FIG. 3). At the top of the lifter body 3, a discharge guide portion 20 is provided for guiding the coins lifted up to the top to the coin discharge portion 19 side. The discharge guide part 20 consists of a substantially arc-shaped guide surface.

[Composition of coin holding part and leaf spring part]
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a mounting plate 21 formed by bending a metal plate into a substantially U-shape is fixed to the base end of the lifter body 3. A movable plate 22 formed by bending a single metal plate into an L shape is attached to the mounting plate 21 so as to be movable in the vertical and horizontal directions. In the movable plate 22, the plate portion along the vertical direction becomes the coin pressing portion 23, and the plate portion along the horizontal direction becomes the leaf spring portion 24. Thus, the coin pressing part 23 and the leaf spring part 24 are integrally formed. The coin pressing part 23 has a role of simultaneously lifting a plurality of coins in cooperation with the L-shaped belt member 7. A substantially arc-shaped curved surface portion 24 a is formed at the tip of the leaf spring portion 24. The leaf spring portion 24 is located at the coin inlet 6 and the tip is directed to the flat portion 12 side of the L-shaped belt member 7 and collides with a coin rising on the flat portion 12, thereby sleeping the coin. Have a role to defeat.

  The coin pressing part 23 is provided with a pair of protrusions 25 arranged vertically, and these protrusions 25 are loosely fitted into the pair of long holes 27 of the mounting plate 21 via spring members 26. The spring material 26 is made of, for example, a conical coil spring. Further, an inclined plate 28 having a spring function is attached and fixed to the upper surface of the plate spring portion 24, and a regulating piece 29 formed at the lower end of the attachment plate 21 is loosely fitted in the opening hole 28 a of the inclined plate 28. . The inclined plate 28 is attached with a steep slope so as to drop the coins that have run on the upper surface downward. With the above structure, the movable plate 22 moves up, down, left, and right with respect to the mounting plate 21.

[Construction of transport path of coin lifter device]
As shown in FIG. 5, the coin inlet 6 is provided with a horizontal coin transport path (referred to as a horizontal coin transport path 30). The horizontal coin conveyance path 30 includes a region surrounded by the leaf spring portion 24 and the conveyance surface 31 of the flat portion 12. The leaf spring portion 24 biases the coin that has entered the horizontal coin conveyance path 30 in a direction to be sandwiched between the L-shaped belt member 7 and the conveyance surface.

  Inside the lifter body 3, a vertical coin transport path (vertical coin transport path 32) is provided. The vertical coin conveyance path 32 includes a region surrounded by the conveyance surface 33 of the vertical portion 13, the two fixed side walls 34 of the lifter body 3, and the coin pressing portion 23. That is, the wall surface 35 on the coin receiving portion 2 side of the vertical coin conveyance path 32 is formed by the wall surface 34 a of the fixed side wall 34 and the inner surface 23 a of the coin pressing portion 23. In the L-shaped belt member 7, the back surface of the part forming the vertical coin conveyance path 32 is guided by a flat support plate 7 a. The vertical coin conveyance path 32 corresponds to a lift conveyance path.

[Drive detection of L-shaped belt member]
As shown in FIG. 6, a rotation detection sensor 37 that detects the drive of the L-shaped belt member 7 is attached to the side surface of the lifter body 3 inside the box-shaped cover 36. The rotation detection sensor 37 is composed of, for example, a rotary encoder. The rotation detection sensor 37 detects the driving state of the L-shaped belt member 7 (the rotation direction of the pulley 9, the rotation speed of the pulley 9, etc.) by detecting the rotation of the pulley 9. The rotation detection sensor 37 constitutes detection means.

[Electric structure of coin lifter device and coin jam detection structure]
As shown in FIG. 7, the motor 15 and the rotation detection sensor 37 are connected to the control unit 17. The control unit 17 is connected to a coin detection sensor 38 that detects a coin received by the coin receiving unit 2 at the opening 4 of the coin receiving unit 2. Coin detection sensor 38 consists of an optical sensor, for example. When the coin received by the coin receiving unit 2 is detected by the coin detection sensor 38, the control unit 17 rotates the motor 15 in the normal direction to rotate the L-shaped belt member 7 in the forward direction, and lifts the coin along the normal conveyance direction. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 17 reversely rotates the motor 15 when a coin jam occurs, and a coin jam judgment unit 39 that judges whether or not there is a coin jam on the transport path based on the detection signal of the rotation detection sensor 37. Thus, a coin jam elimination unit 40 that eliminates the coin jam is provided. The coin clogging determination unit 39 determines the presence or absence of coin clogging based on the comparison result between the driving state of the motor 15 and the detection signal input from the rotation detection sensor 37. When a coin jam occurs, the coin jam elimination unit 40 resumes normal coin conveyance after eliminating the coin jam by causing the motor 15 to stop for a specified time → reverse rotation → a specified time stop → forward rotation. The coin jam determination unit 39 constitutes a detection unit, and the coin jam elimination unit 40 corresponds to a transport control unit.

[Internal shape of coin receiving part]
As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a sloped coin ride-up portion 41 is provided inside the coin receiving portion 2 on the wall opposite to the coin inlet 6. The coin ride-up section 41 is for allowing the coin to be picked up and preventing the coin from clogging at this position when the L-shaped belt member 7 is driven in the reverse direction when the coin jam is detected. A pair of groove portions 42 (only one side is shown in FIG. 6) are formed in the coin ride-up portion 41 so as to be a passage for the protrusion 18.

Next, operation | movement of the coin lifter apparatus 1 of this example is demonstrated using FIGS.
[Normal coin transport operation]
As shown in FIG. 8, the coin that has fallen from above is received by the coin receiving portion 2, and this rides on the flat portion 12 of the L-shaped belt member 7. At this time, coins may be overlapped and only one may be ridden. The coin group placed on the flat portion 12 reaches the coin inlet 6 as the L-shaped belt member 7 is driven, and is guided from there to the inside of the lifter body 3 through the horizontal coin conveyance path 30.

  As shown in FIG. 9, so-called coin rolling may be performed in which a coin on the flat portion 12 rotates while standing. In this case, the rotating coin collides with the tip of the leaf spring portion 24 as the L-shaped belt member 7 is driven, and falls down on the flat portion 12. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the coins on the upper surface of the inclined plate 28 fall downward due to the inclination attached to the inclined plate 28. Therefore, both the coin that has stood on the flat portion 12 and the coin that has been on the inclined plate 28 are brought down to a state in which they lie on the flat portion 12.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the coin group placed on the flat portion 12 is collected at the boundary portion 14. When the protrusion 18 reaches the coin group as the L-shaped belt member 7 is driven, the protrusion 18 scoops up the coin group from below and lifts it upward. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 12, the coin group is lifted while being sandwiched between the vertical portion 13 of the L-shaped belt member 7 and the movable coin pressing portion 23 while supporting the coin group from below with the protrusion 18. The coin group is discharged from the coin discharge unit 19 to the outside at the top of the vertical portion 13.

[Coin jam removal operation]
As illustrated in FIG. 13, for example, when a large amount of coins is received as change in the coin receiving unit 2, there is a possibility that a number of coins exceeding the amount that can be transported enter the vertical coin transport path 32 in a state where they overlap. When this happens, this coin group is jammed in the middle of the vertical coin conveyance path 32, and so-called coin jamming occurs in which the L-shaped belt member 7 stops despite the motor 15 being energized. . The transportable amount is determined by the thickness and number of coins to be transported, the width of the vertical coin transport path 32 (movable amount of the movable plate 22), control related to coin transport (for example, the rotational speed of the motor 15), and the like.

  When a coin jam occurs, the control unit 17 operates according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 14 to eliminate the coin jam. In addition, the control part 17 is performing the flowchart of FIG. 14 sequentially, when the coin lifter apparatus 1 is implementing conveyance operation | movement.

  In step 101, the coin jam determination unit 39 determines whether a coin jam has occurred inside the lifter body 3. The coin clogging determination unit 39 recognizes that a coin clogging has occurred when it is confirmed that the driving of the L-shaped belt member 7 has stopped despite the motor 15 being energized. At this time, if the occurrence of coin clogging is not recognized, the process stands by in step 101. If the occurrence of coin clogging is recognized, the process proceeds to step 102.

  In step 102, the coin jam elimination unit 40 temporarily stops the motor 15 for a specified time (temporary stop step). Thereby, the overlapping state of the jammed coins is alleviated to some extent.

  In step 103, the coin jam elimination unit 40 reverses the motor 15 for a short time (reverse rotation step). The reason for making the reversal short is to prevent the coins jammed in the vertical coin conveyance path 32 from returning to the coin inlet 6 during the reversal. The reverse rotation of the motor 15 loosens the jammed coins and eliminates the coin jams.

  In step 104, the coin jam elimination unit 40 temporarily stops the motor 15 for a specified time (re-stop step). Thereby, even if it is a coin from which clogging is not eliminated in step 103, the overlapping state of clogging is eased.

  In step 105, the coin jam elimination unit 40 switches the motor 15 to normal rotation and resumes the coin conveyance in the normal conveyance direction (normal conveyance step). As a result, the coin group is conveyed upward by the vertical portion 13 of the L-shaped belt member 7 and discharged from the coin discharge portion 19 to the outside.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) When a coin jam is detected in the vertical coin conveyance path 32, the motor 15 rotates in the reverse direction with respect to the normal conveyance direction, so that the coin jam can be eliminated by loosening the jammed coin. In addition, since the reverse rotation time of the motor 15 is set to a short time, the jammed coin does not return to the coin inlet 6.

  (2) When the coin jam is detected, if the motor 15 is operated in the sequence of pause → reverse rotation → pause → forward rotation, the coin clogging is easily resolved by the change of the overlapping state of the coins due to the inertial force during the pause. Become. Therefore, in the case of this example, when the coin jam is detected, the motor 15 is driven and controlled in accordance with this sequence, so the certainty of eliminating the coin jam is ensured.

  (3) Since the inclined coin-carrying part 41 is provided inside the coin receiving part 2, when the L-shaped belt member 7 is driven in the reverse direction when coin clogging is detected, This coin can be escaped along the coin ride-up portion 41. Therefore, when the L-shaped belt member 7 is driven in the reverse direction, it is possible to prevent the coins from being clogged at this location.

Note that the embodiment is not limited to the configuration described so far, and may be modified as follows.
The coin jam detection method can be achieved by, for example, comparing the driving state of the motor 15 and the movement of the L-shaped belt member 7 or comparing the driving state of the motor 15 and the coin detection states before and after the lifter body 2. The presence or absence of clogging can be determined.

  The motor control sequence at the time of coin jam detection may be, for example, a control that starts reverse rotation immediately without stopping. That is, when the coin jam is detected, any other operation may be performed as long as the motor 15 is rotated in the reverse direction.

As the rotation detection sensor (detection means) for detecting the driving of the L-shaped belt member 7, other sensors such as a magnetic sensor can be adopted.
As long as the attachment structure of the leaf | plate spring part 24 is assembled | attached so that it may move with respect to the attachment board 21, another structure may be employ | adopted.

-The inclination board 28 of the upper surface of the leaf | plate spring part 24 is omissible.
-The front-end | tip shape of the leaf | plate spring part 24 is not restricted to a curved surface shape, For example, a linear shape may be sufficient.
-The protrusion which comprises the coin inlet 6 is not restricted to the leaf | plate spring part 24, For example, the leaf | plate piece fixed so that it might not move to the lifter main body 3 may be sufficient.

  The pair of protrusions 18 of the same set are not limited to those provided side by side in the width direction of the belt member, and the protrusion 18 on the coin discharge portion 19 side is the opposite side in the direction extending in the vertical direction. You may arrange | position so that it may become lower. In this case, the coins lifted up to the top of the lift roll to the coin discharge part 19 side due to the difference in height of the protrusions 18 and can be discharged smoothly from the lifter body 3.

-The coin mounting surface of the protrusion 18 may be an inclined surface.
-The number of protrusions 18 in the same set may be three or more.
The coin pressing part 23 and the leaf spring part 24 may be formed separately.

The drive means for the L-shaped belt member 7 may employ a member other than the motor.
-The flat part 12 and the perpendicular | vertical part 13 are not limited to the direction which cross | intersects at right angle, You may take the direction which inclines by a predetermined angle from right angle.

The temporary stop time when the motor 15 is reversely rotated can be appropriately set at various times.
The reverse rotation time of the motor 15 (short time) may be set to any value as long as the jammed coins do not return to the coin inlet 6.

    DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Coin lifter apparatus, 2 ... Coin receiving part, 3 ... Lifter main body, 6 ... Coin inlet, 7 ... L-shaped belt member, 12 ... Flat part, 13 ... Vertical part, 14 ... Boundary part, 15 ... As drive means , 18 ... protrusions, 23 ... coin pressing part, 31 ... conveying surface, 32 ... vertical coin conveying path as a lift conveying path, 33 ... conveying surface, 37 ... rotation detection sensor constituting detection means, 39 ... Coin clogging determination unit constituting detection means, 40... Coin clogging elimination unit as conveyance control means.

Claims (2)

A coin receiving portion for taking in the falling coins, a coin inlet at the bottom, a lifter body standing on the side of the coin receiving portion, and a protrusion on the transport surface for transporting the coin, An endless L-shaped belt member having a flat portion and a vertical portion, a coin pressing portion provided in the lifter body, and the L-shaped belt member. Driving means,
A plurality of coins taken in by the coin receiving portion are placed on the flat portion of the L-shaped belt member driven by the driving means and conveyed to the lifter body, and the plurality of coins are transferred to the L-shaped belt member. A coin lifter device that lifts the plurality of coins upward while being supported by protrusions from below while being sandwiched between the vertical part and the coin pressing part,
When a coin clogging occurs when a coin clogging occurs when a coin exceeding the amount that can be conveyed enters a lift conveyance path that can convey a plurality of coins simultaneously, and detecting the clogging of the coin,
When the coin clogging occurs, the drive means is driven in the direction opposite to the direction of conveyance only in such a short time that the L-shaped belt member does not convey the coin to the outside of the coin inlet. A coin lifter device comprising: a conveyance control means for separating coins which are overlapped by driving to eliminate coin clogging. The transport control means includes
A pause step for stopping the drive means for a specified time when a coin jam is detected;
A reverse rotation step for driving the driving means in the reverse direction only for a short time;
A re-stop step for stopping the driving means again for a specified time;
2. The coin lifter device according to claim 1, wherein the drive unit is controlled to sequentially perform a normal conveyance step of rotating the drive unit forward and resuming the conveyance of coins in a normal conveyance direction.