JP2017054399A - Coin processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coin processing device that can facilitate switching of configurations from a configuration enabling a temporary holding function to a configuration disabling the temporary holding function, and vice versa.SOLUTION: The coin processing device includes: a separation passage that allows a coin inputted and identified as an authentic coin to pass therethrough; a temporary holding gate that is movable between an advanced posture where the temporary holding gate is advanced to the separation passage, and a retracted posture where the temporary holding gate is retracted from the separation passage, and which is normally caused to be in the advanced posture by biasing force of a temporary holding spring; and a temporary holding solenoid 441 which allows the temporary holding gate to be in the advanced posture when in an unelectrified state, and which causes the temporary holding gate to be in the retracted posture when in an electrified state. The coin processing device further includes a controller 46. If a temporary holding command is provided, the controller performs operation so as to hold the coin, with the temporary holding solenoid 441 kept in the unelectrified state, even when the coin passes through the separation passage. If a temporary holding prohibition command is provided, the controller performs operation so as not to hold the coin, with the temporary holding solenoid 441 kept in a drive state, when the coin passes through the separation passage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a coin processing apparatus, and more particularly to a coin processing apparatus applied to, for example, a vending machine.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a coin processing device applied to, for example, a vending machine, a device including a coin identifying unit, a coin sorting unit, and a coin storage unit is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  The coin discriminating unit guides the coins inserted from the coin insertion slot to the identification passage, and identifies the authenticity and denomination of the coin by the identification means while the coin passes through the identification passage. The coin allocating unit introduces a coin that is a genuine coin and whose denomination is identified by the coin identifying unit, and distributes the coin according to the identification result of the coin identifying unit while passing through the sorting passage. The coin storage unit stores the coins distributed by the coin distribution unit in a coin tube for each denomination.

  In such a coin processing device, a temporary holding gate is generally provided in the coin sorting unit. The temporary holding gate is provided so as to be capable of moving forward and backward with respect to the distribution passage, and is always urged by the urging means to advance and move with respect to the distribution passage. For this reason, the temporary holding gate is normally in the advanced position in which it has moved into the sorting passage. When the solenoid as the driving source is driven, the temporary holding gate is attracted to the solenoid by the plunger connected to the temporary holding gate, so that the distribution passage is against the urging force by the urging means. It moves backward from and becomes a retreat posture.

  In a coin processing apparatus having such a temporary holding gate, a temporary holding function (escrow function) that temporarily holds a coin of a predetermined denomination identified as a genuine coin by a coin identifying unit at a temporary holding gate that is in an advanced position. ).

  Then, when the coin return operation or the like is performed, the temporarily held gate can be put in the retracted posture, and the held coin can be sent to a predetermined return port and returned.

  According to such a coin processing device, when a coin identified as a true coin is actually a processed metal that is not a true coin, the metal can be sent back to the return port and returned. As a result, it is possible to prevent the implemented coins stored in the coin storage unit from being sent out to the return port, and there is no possibility that the metal and the coins stored in the coin storage unit are exchanged.

JP 2002-74466 A

  By the way, depending on the country of installation of the vending machine on which the coin processing device is installed, there is no fear that high-priced coins will be thrown into the coin processing device, and a predetermined coin is temporarily stored at the temporary holding gate in the coin distribution unit. May not need to be temporarily suspended.

  However, in the above coin processing apparatus, the temporary holding gate is in an advanced position in which the temporary holding gate has advanced into the distribution passage in a normal state. Therefore, when stopping the temporary holding function, the configuration of the temporary holding gate and its surrounding components The above change must be made, and as a result, there is a possibility that the setting change operation for the presence or absence of the temporary hold function may be complicated.

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a coin processing device that can easily change the setting of the presence or absence of a temporary hold function.

  In order to achieve the above object, a coin processing device according to the present invention includes a sorting passage that allows a coin that has been inserted and identified as a genuine coin to pass through, an advancement attitude that has advanced into the sorting passage, and In the normal state, the temporary holding gate which is provided so as to be movable between the retreating posture retracted from the distribution passage and is in the advanced posture by the biasing force of the biasing means, and when the drive stop state, Drive means for allowing the temporary holding gate to move to the retracted position while allowing the temporary holding gate to move to the retracted position while driving the temporary holding gate against the urging force of the urging means. In a coin processing device provided with a coin distribution unit, when a temporary hold command is given, the drive means is maintained in a drive stop state even when a coin passes through the distribution passage, and the temporary hold gate is set. One coin While a holding operation is performed to hold, when a temporary holding prohibition command is given, at least when a coin passes through the sorting passage, the driving means is maintained in a driving state and the temporary holding gate is set to the retracted position. Control means for performing a non-holding operation to hold is provided.

  Further, in the coin processing apparatus according to the present invention, when the temporary holding instruction is given from a higher-level device, the control unit performs the holding operation while the temporary holding prohibition command is given from the higher-level device. In this case, the non-holding operation is performed.

  According to the present invention, when the temporary holding command is given, the control means keeps the driving means in the driving stop state even when the coin passes through the sorting passage, and temporarily holds the coin at the temporary holding gate. While holding operation to hold, when a temporary hold prohibition command is given, at least when coins pass through the sorting passage, keep the driving means in the driving state and hold the temporary holding gate in the retracted position Since the operation is performed, there is an effect that it is possible to easily change the setting of the presence or absence of the temporary holding function without changing the configuration of the temporary holding gate and its surrounding components as in the prior art.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a coin processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the internal structure of the main part of the coin processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 from the front. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the main part of the coin processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 from the rear. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a characteristic control system of the coin processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the non-holding operation processing performed by the control unit shown in FIG.

  Exemplary embodiments of a coin processing device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a front view showing a coin processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the internal structure of the main part of the coin processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 from the front.

  The coin processing apparatus exemplified here is applied to, for example, a vending machine, and includes an apparatus main body 10 that is a casing.

  The apparatus main body 10 includes a coin identifying unit 20, a coin sorting unit 40, a coin storage unit 50, and a coin dispensing unit 60.

  The coin identifying unit 20 identifies a coin inserted from a coin insertion slot 11 formed in the apparatus main body 10, and includes an identification passage 21 and an identification sensor 22. The identification passage 21 is a passage through which coins inserted from the coin insertion slot 11 pass. The identification sensor 22 is provided in the vicinity of the identification passage 21 and identifies the authenticity and denomination of coins passing through the identification passage 21. The identification result of the identification sensor 22 is given to a control unit 46 (see FIG. 4) described later as an identification signal.

  The coin distribution unit 40 is provided on the lower side of the coin identification unit 20. The coin distribution unit 40 distributes the coins identified as the true coins by the identification sensor 22 of the coin identification unit 20 according to the identification result of the denomination of the identification sensor 22. A minute gate member 42 is provided.

  The sorting passage 41 is a passage through which a coin identified as a genuine coin by the coin identifying unit 20 passes. A passage sensor 43 is provided in the vicinity of the upstream portion of the distribution passage 41. The passage sensor 43 detects that a coin has passed from the coin identification unit 20 to the coin sorting unit 40 and gives a detection signal (pass-on signal) to the control unit 46.

  There are a plurality of sorting gate members 42, and each is provided in such a manner as to move forward and backward with respect to the sorting passage 41. These sorting gate members 42 are used to guide coins to the coin storage unit 50 corresponding to the denomination of the coins or to the outside, and are driven by a sorting operation solenoid 421 as shown in FIG.

  In addition to the above-described configuration, the coin distribution unit 40 is provided with a temporary storage gate 44, a temporary storage solenoid (driving means) 441, and a temporary storage distribution gate 45.

  The temporary holding gate 44 is provided so as to move forward and backward with respect to the sorting passage 41. More specifically, the temporary holding gate 44 is provided so as to be movable between an advancing posture that has advanced into the sorting passage 41 and a retracting posture that has been retracted from the sorting passage 41. A temporary holding plunger (not shown) is connected to the temporary holding gate 44. This temporary holding gate 44 is provided in such a manner that it moves forward and backward with respect to the sorting passage 41 through which coins of a predetermined denomination (for example, high denomination) pass, instead of the sorting passage 41 through which all coins pass.

  The temporary holding solenoid 441 enters an energized state (drive state) by a drive command given from the control unit 46, and enters a non-energized state (drive stop state) by a drive stop command given from the control unit 46. When the temporary holding solenoid 441 is energized, the temporary holding plunger is sucked backward. The temporary holding plunger is always biased forward by a temporary holding spring (biasing means) (not shown), and is displaced forward when the temporary holding solenoid 441 is not energized. In position. Therefore, the temporary holding gate 44 is in the advanced position in the normal state.

  Similar to the temporary holding gate 44, the temporary holding distribution gate 45 is provided in such a manner that it moves forward and backward with respect to the distribution passage 41 through which coins of a predetermined denomination pass. The temporary holding distribution gate 45 is for distributing coins temporarily held by the temporary holding gate 44. The temporary holding distribution gate 45 is connected to a distribution operation solenoid 421 via a link mechanism 451 and moves forward and backward according to the drive of the distribution operation solenoid 421.

  The coin storage unit 50 is a part that stores coins, and is provided on the lower side of the coin distribution unit 40. The coin storage unit 50 stores coins for each denomination and is provided with a coin tube (not shown) that stores coins for each denomination.

  The coin dispensing unit 60 is provided on the lower side of the coin storage unit 50. The coin dispensing unit 60 dispenses coins stored in the coin storage unit 50 in accordance with a given command.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a characteristic control system of the coin processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the coin processing device includes a control unit 46. The control unit 46 performs holding operation processing and non-holding operation processing described later according to programs and data stored in the memory 47, and includes a communication processing unit 461, an input processing unit 462, a setting processing unit 463, and a drive processing unit 464. It has.

  The communication processing unit 461 performs communication processing with the main control unit 100 of the vending machine to which the coin processing device is applied. The input processing unit 462 performs input processing of a signal (passing on signal) given from the passing sensor 43. The setting processing unit 463 performs setting processing for the hold mode and the non-hold mode based on a command given from the main control unit 100 through the communication processing unit 461. The drive processing unit 464 sends a drive command or a drive stop command to the temporary holding solenoid 441 to place the temporary holding solenoid 441 in an energized state or a non-energized state.

  In the coin processing apparatus having the above configuration, when the control unit 46 is given a temporary hold command from the main control unit 100 through the communication processing unit 461, the control unit 46 sets the hold mode through the setting processing unit 463. The control unit 46 set in the hold mode in this way performs the following hold operation process.

  In the hold operation process, the control unit 46 sends a drive stop command to the temporary hold solenoid 441 through the drive processing unit 464 to maintain the temporary hold solenoid 441 in a non-energized state. As a result, the temporary holding gate 44 is maintained in the advancing posture that has advanced into the distribution passage 41.

  Thereby, coins of predetermined denominations (hereinafter also referred to as target denomination coins) that are inserted from the coin insertion slot 11 and whose authenticity and denomination are identified by the coin identifying unit 20 (identification sensor 22) are distributed. When introduced into the passage 41, the temporary holding gate 44 in the advanced posture holds the target denomination coin.

  Then, when a return operation is performed by the user after that, a holding coin return command is given from the main control unit 100, or when a user purchases a product, the main control unit 100 stores the holding coins. When a command is given, the control unit 46 gives a drive command to the temporary holding solenoid 441 through the drive processing unit 464, and the temporary holding solenoid 441 is energized for a predetermined time. Here, the predetermined time is a time sufficient to pass the held denomination coin, and is, for example, about 1 to 5 seconds.

  As a result, the temporary holding gate 44 is in the retracted posture for a predetermined time, and the held denomination coin can be passed. The target denomination coins passed in this way are not specifically described this time, but the temporary holding sorting gate 45 is moved by putting the sorting operation solenoid 421 in an energized state so that the coin storage unit 50 can move. It is sent to a coin tube or a predetermined return port.

  On the other hand, when the control unit 46 receives a temporary suspension prohibition instruction from the main control unit 100 through the communication processing unit 461, the control unit 46 sets the non-holding mode through the setting processing unit 463. The control unit 46 set to the non-holding mode in this way performs the following non-holding operation process.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the non-holding operation processing performed by the control unit 46 shown in FIG.

  In this non-holding operation process, the control unit 46 receives a pass-on signal from the pass sensor 43 through the input processing unit 462 (step S101), that is, inserted from the coin insertion slot 11, and the coin identification unit 20 (identification sensor 22). ), When the target denomination coin whose type is identified is introduced into the distribution passage 41, a drive command is sent to the temporary holding solenoid 441 through the drive processing unit 464, and a measurement unit (not shown) The time measurement is started through (Step S102, Step S103).

  By sending a drive command to the temporary hold solenoid 441 in this manner, the temporary hold solenoid 441 is energized (driven state), and the temporary hold plunger is sucked to bring the temporary hold gate 44 into the retracted position. Become. As a result, the target denomination coin introduced into the sorting passage 41 passes through the sorting passage 41 without being held by the temporary holding gate 44.

  If the measured time has passed a preset set time (step S104: Yes), the control unit 46 sends a drive stop command to the temporary holding solenoid 441 through the drive processing unit 464 and also through the measurement unit. Is finished (steps S105 and S106), and then the procedure is returned to end the current process. Here, the set time is not particularly determined, but is a time during which a plurality of target denomination coins can pass, and is, for example, about 10 to 90 seconds.

  By sending the drive stop command to the temporary hold solenoid 441 in this way, the temporary hold solenoid 441 is in a non-energized state (drive stop state), and is biased by the temporary hold spring, so that the temporary hold gate 44 is advanced. It becomes.

  According to such non-holding operation processing, the temporary holding gate 44 can be maintained in the retracted posture until the set time elapses, and the target denomination coin can be passed without being held.

  As described above, according to the coin processing device of the present embodiment, when the control unit 46 is given a temporary hold command from the main control unit 100, when the coin passes through the distribution passage 41. While the temporary holding solenoid 441 is maintained in a non-energized state and the temporary holding gate 44 temporarily holds the target denomination coin, a temporary holding prohibition command is given from the main control unit 100. When the target denomination coin passes through the distribution passage 41, the temporary holding solenoid 441 is maintained in the energized state and the non-holding operation for holding the temporary holding gate 44 in the retracted position is performed. It is possible to easily change the setting of the presence or absence of the temporary hold function without changing the configuration of peripheral components.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made.

  In the above-described embodiment, the holding operation process and the non-holding operation process are performed by a command given from the main control unit 100 which is a higher-level device of the control unit 46. However, in the present invention, the operation unit of the remote controller, etc. The holding operation process and the non-holding operation process may be performed by giving a command to the control means without using the host device through the input means.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Apparatus main body 11 Coin insertion slot 20 Coin identification part 21 Identification passage 22 Identification sensor 40 Coin distribution part 41 Distribution path 42 Distribution gate member 43 Pass sensor 44 Temporary retention gate 441 Temporary retention solenoid 45 Temporary retention distribution gate 46 Control Unit 461 Communication processing unit 462 Input processing unit 463 Setting processing unit 464 Drive processing unit 50 Coin storage unit 60 Coin dispensing unit

Claims (2)

A sorting passage that allows coins that are inserted and identified as genuine to pass through;
A temporary holding gate which is provided so as to be movable between an advancing posture which has advanced into the sorting passage and a retreating posture which has been retracted from the sorting passage, and which normally assumes the advancing posture by a biasing force of a biasing means; ,
When the drive is stopped, the temporary holding gate is allowed to be in the advanced position, and when driven, the temporary holding gate is moved against the biasing force of the biasing means. In a coin processing apparatus comprising a coin sorting unit having a drive means for making the retracted position,
When a temporary hold command is given, while a coin passes through the distribution passage, the drive means is maintained in a drive stop state and a hold operation is performed to temporarily hold the coin at the temporary hold gate. When a temporary hold prohibition command is given, at least when a coin passes through the sorting passage, a non-hold operation is performed in which the drive means is maintained in a drive state and the temporary hold gate is held in the retracted posture. A coin processing apparatus comprising control means.   The control means performs the hold operation when the temporary hold command is given from the host device, and performs the non-hold operation when the temporary hold prohibition command is given from the host device. The coin processing apparatus according to claim 1.

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