JP2022189163A - Coin identification device and money handling device - Google Patents

Abstract

To enhance the accuracy in a case of detecting characteristics of a coin by a sensor.SOLUTION: When a coin CN is conveyed by a pin belt 44, a coin recognition part 23 of a coin deposit/withdraw part 12 urges the coin CN by a blade urging part 57 in the left direction so as to be brought into contact with a reference surface 42S. The coin recognition part 23 exerts a force toward a left front lower direction on the coin CN when a brush 58B of a brush urging part 58 is deflected, and advances the coin CN in a rear direction while maintaining a state in which the coin CN is in contact with the reference surface 42S and a guide surface 41S, thereby detecting information by each sensor of a magnetic information acquisition part 55. The coin recognition part 23 can thereby determine a material of a front surface of the coin CN, the entire material, and an outer diameter from the obtained information with high accuracy, and recognize the denomination, authenticity or the like of the coin CN with high accuracy.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 11

Description

The present invention relates to a coin identification device and a money handling device, and is preferably applied to a cash register change system used in a checkout office of retail stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as cash register change systems, a combination of a POS cash register connected to a POS (Point Of Sales) system or the like and a change machine for depositing and withdrawing banknotes and coins is becoming popular. Among these change machines, a coin processing device for processing coins includes, for example, a coin deposit port for depositing coins by a cashier, a transport unit for transporting coins along a transport path using a belt or the like, a type of inserted coin, a Some have a recognition unit for discriminating authenticity, a storage box for storing coins by denomination, and an outlet for storing coins drawn out from the storage box and allowing a cashier to take them out.

In the coin receiving/dispensing unit, the recognition unit detects various information from the coin by various sensors arranged along the conveying path while conveying the coin by the conveying belt of the conveying unit. In this recognition unit, for example, by bringing the circumferential side of the coin into contact with a reference surface formed along the conveying path, it is conceivable to improve the accuracy when detecting the size (diameter) of the coin.

Therefore, as a recognition unit of the coin handling apparatus, for example, a width-adjusting mechanism having a rotatable width-adjusting arm and a width-adjusting spring that urges the width-adjusting arm toward the reference surface is provided so that the conveyed coins are aligned with the reference surface. It has been proposed to obtain a certain degree of detection accuracy by pressing (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-61463 (Fig. 4, etc.)

By the way, in recent years, from the viewpoint of counterfeit prevention, some countries and regions have issued bicolor clad coins in which different types of metal are used for the central portion and the peripheral portion. For this reason, it is conceivable that the recognition unit detects information about the coin by sensors corresponding to the central portion and the outer peripheral portion of the bicolor clad coin.

However, in the recognition unit using the above-described width gathering arm, if the coin is conveyed while being pressed against the reference surface by the width gathering arm, there is a high possibility that the coin will become unstable during conveyance. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to maintain constant detection accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and intends to propose a coin identification device and a money handling device capable of improving accuracy in detecting features of coins with a sensor.

In order to solve this problem, in the coin identification device of the present invention, a conveying path along which the coin is conveyed along the conveying direction is formed, and a guide surface for guiding the coin and a guide surface perpendicular to the conveying direction are provided on the guide surface. a conveyance guide having a reference surface for regulating the movement range of the coin in the width direction; a sensor for detecting information on the coin; a first biasing unit for biasing the coin in the width direction toward the reference surface; A second biasing portion is provided downstream or upstream of the first biasing portion in terms of direction and biases the coin toward at least the reference surface.

Further, the money handling apparatus of the present invention is a money handling apparatus having a coin receiving port for receiving coins and a coin identifying device for identifying coins, wherein the coin identifying device conveys coins along the conveying direction. a guide surface for guiding the coin and a reference surface for regulating the range of movement of the coin on the guide surface in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction; and information on the coin. a sensor that detects a coin, a first biasing portion that biases the coin in the width direction toward the reference surface, and a first biasing portion provided downstream or upstream of the first biasing portion in the conveying direction, so that the coin is at least on the reference surface and a second biasing portion that biases toward.

According to the present invention, since the first urging portion urges the coin toward the reference surface to abut the coin, and the second urging portion urges the coin toward the reference surface, the coin is urged toward the reference surface. Information can be accurately detected from the coin by the sensor while the coin is kept in contact with the surface.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the coin identification device and money handling apparatus which can improve the precision when detecting the characteristic of a coin by a sensor are realizable.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing the overall configuration of a cash register change system; FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of a coin deposit/withdrawal part. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing how coins are placed in a coin deposit/withdrawal unit; FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a conveying unit; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conveying section, a coin recognition section, a reject branching section, and a reject conveying path; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing paths of coins in a coin deposit/withdrawal unit; 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a coin recognition unit according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the coin recognition unit according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a magnetic information acquisition section according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state of a coin according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state of a coin according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the state of a coin according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a state of a coin according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the state of a coin according to the first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a first virtual coin recognition unit; FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a first virtual coin recognition unit; FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing how a coin is recognized by a virtual first coin recognition unit; FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing how a foreign object adheres to a first virtual coin recognition unit; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a second virtual coin recognition unit; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing how a coin is recognized by a second virtual coin recognition unit; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing forces acting on a coin in a second virtual coin recognition unit; FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a coin recognition unit according to a second embodiment; FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a coin recognition unit according to a second embodiment; FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the appearance of a coin according to the second embodiment; FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the appearance of a coin according to the second embodiment; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a coin recognition unit according to another embodiment; FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conveying belt section according to another embodiment;

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the form (it is mentioned as embodiment below) for implementing invention is demonstrated using drawing.

[1. First Embodiment]
[1-1. Configuration of cash register change system]
As shown in appearance in FIG. 1, a register change system 1 according to the first embodiment comprises an upper POS register 2 and a lower change dispenser 3, which are independent devices. The cash register change system 1 is operated by a cash register clerk when a customer settles the account for a product that the customer wants to purchase at a cash register (so-called cash register) of a retail store such as a supermarket or a convenience store. In the following description, the front surface and the opposite surface facing the cashier are defined as the front surface and the rear surface, respectively, and left, right, and top and bottom as seen from the cashier are defined.

The POS register 2 has a register control section 5 , a display operation section 6 and a receipt processing section 7 . A register control unit 5 performs overall control. A bar code reader (not shown) is connected to the POS register 2, and the bar code attached to the product is read by the bar code reader to recognize the product.

The display/operation unit 6 includes a display unit such as a liquid crystal display and an operation unit such as a touch panel overlaid on the liquid crystal display. The display operation unit 6 displays the name of the recognized product, the price, etc. on the liquid crystal display. The display operation unit 6 displays input keys such as numbers on a part of the display screen, and when a portion corresponding to an input key on the touch panel is pressed, an input operation corresponding to the input key is accepted. is sent to the register control unit 5. In response to this, the register control unit 5 performs various processes such as increasing or decreasing the quantity of products and correcting the price. The receipt processing unit 7 prints the name of the recognized product, the amount of money, etc. on a receipt and discharges it from the receipt discharge port 7A.

On the other hand, the change machine 3 is mainly composed of a change control section 10, a bill depositing/dispensing section 11 on the left side, a coin depositing/dispensing section 12 on the right side, and a display operation section 13 on the upper front side. The change control unit 10 is mainly composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown), and controls the change dispenser 3 by reading and executing various programs such as a change dispensing program from a memory such as a flash memory. control effectively.

The banknote deposit/withdrawal unit 11 takes in banknotes deposited from the banknote deposit/withdrawal port 14 by the cashier and stores them in the banknote storage box 15 . Further, the banknote pay-in/pay-out unit 11 draws out the banknotes instructed by the register control unit 5 from the banknote storage 15 and pays them out from the banknote pay-in/pay-out port 14 as change.

A coin deposit port 16 is provided in the upper part of the front surface of the coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12, and a reject port 17 and a coin dispensing port 18 are provided below it. The coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12 takes in coins inserted into the coin deposit port 16 by a cash register clerk and stores them in an internal storage box 27 (FIG. 2). The coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12 also dispenses coins of the denomination and number corresponding to the amount instructed by the cash register control unit 5 from the coin dispensing port 18 as change.

Coins handled by the coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12 are made of metal such as nickel, copper, aluminum, or alloys thereof, and are formed into a thin plate having a circular or polygonal board surface. The coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12 also handles so-called bicolor clad coins in which the central portion and the outer peripheral portion are made of different kinds of metals.

The display operation unit 13 is configured by combining a predetermined display panel and predetermined operation buttons. The display panel of the display operation unit 13 displays the operation status of the banknote deposit/withdrawal unit 11 and the coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12. For example, the coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12 is short of coins for change, It displays that an abnormality has been detected and its location. The operation button of the display operation unit 13 receives an instruction related to, for example, coin transportation or the like through a pressing operation by a cashier or the like.

[1-2. Configuration of Coin Receipt/Payment Unit]
As shown in a schematic plan view of FIG. 2, the coin depositing/dispensing unit 12 includes a coin control unit 20, a deposit separating unit 21, a coin depositing port 16, a reject port 17, and a coin dispensing port 18 described above. It has a transport section 22 , a coin recognition section 23 , a reject branch section 24 and a reject transport path 25 . In addition, the coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12 includes six storage branch units 26 (26A to 26F), six storage units 27 (27A to 27F), and six dispensing adjustment units 28 (28A to 28F). doing.

The coin control unit 20 is mainly composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown). comprehensively control the

The coin inlet 16 is formed in a mortar-like shape, and is provided with a separation disk 16D, a separation gate 16G, an actuator (not shown), a sensor (not shown), and the like. The separation disk 16D is formed in a disc shape, is incorporated in the bottom portion of the coin inlet 16, and is configured to be rotatable about a vertical rotation axis 16DX. The actuator supplies driving force to the separation disc 16D under the control of the coin control section 20. As shown in FIG. The sensor detects the presence or absence of coins in the coin deposit port 16 and notifies the coin control unit 20 of the obtained detection result.

The separation gate 16G is arranged near the outer periphery on the left rear side of the coin inlet 16 . The separation gate 16G has a substantially horizontal lower end portion, and forms a gap between the upper side of the separation disk 16D and the upper surface of the separation disk 16D. The interval of this gap is larger than the thickness of one coin and smaller than the thickness of two overlapping coins.

As shown in FIG. 3A, when a coin CN is inserted into the coin inlet 16, the sensor detects this, and the separation disc 16D is rotated under the control of the coin control unit 20 to exert centrifugal force. , the coin is moved to the outer peripheral side of the separation disk 16D. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3B, the coin inlet 16 feeds out the coins CN one by one from the gap between the separation disk 16D and the separation gate 16G to the left rear side.

The deposit separation unit 21 (FIG. 2) is arranged behind the separation gate 16G, and includes a rotating shaft 21X extending in the horizontal direction, a cylindrical deposit separating roller 21R inserted through the rotating shaft 21X, and a sensor (not shown). , and actuators (not shown). The rotating shaft 21X is rotatably supported and rotates integrally with the deposit separation roller 21R. The sensor detects the presence or absence of coins drawn out from the coin inlet 16 . Under the control of the coin control unit 20, the actuator supplies a driving force to the rotating shaft 21X to intermittently rotate the deposit separating roller 21R.

When the sensor detects a coin, the deposit separation unit 21 intermittently rotates the deposit separation roller 21R under the control of the coin control unit 20, thereby separating each coin CN as shown in FIG. Send backwards at regular intervals.

The conveying section 22 (FIG. 2) is composed of a conveying guide section 31 that forms a coin conveying path, and a conveying belt section 32 that advances the coin along the conveying path on the conveying guide section 31. . The transport guide portion 31 is composed of a recognition transport guide portion 31A extending in the front-rear direction and a distribution transport guide portion 31B extending in the left-right direction. In the transport guide portion 31, the rear end of the recognition transport guide portion 31A and the left end of the distribution transport guide portion 31B are connected.

The recognition/conveyance guide section 31A is arranged on the rear side of the deposit separation section 21, and has a guide section 41, a left regulation section 42L and a right regulation section 42R, as shown in a schematic sectional view in FIG. there is The interval between the left restricting portion 42L and the right restricting portion 42R in the left-right direction is larger than the diameter of the coin having the largest diameter among the coins that can be handled in the coin depositing/dispensing portion 12 (hereinafter referred to as the maximum diameter coin). ing. The upper surface of the guide portion 41 (hereinafter referred to as a guide surface 41S) is formed in a substantially horizontal plane shape, and the coin slides in a posture in which the board surface of the coin is in contact with the guide surface 41S. It is envisioned to advance backward while

The left restricting portion 42L is arranged on the upper left side of the guide portion 41, and restricts the leftward movement range of the coin on the guide surface 41S. Below, the right side surface of the left restricting portion 42L is referred to as a reference surface 42S. The right restricting portion 42R is arranged on the upper right side of the guide portion 41, and restricts the rightward movement range of the coin on the guide surface 41S.

From another point of view, the recognition transport guide portion 31A is surrounded above the guide portion 41 by the guide surface 41S of the guide portion 41, the reference surface 42S of the left restricting portion 42L, and the left side surface of the right restricting portion 42R. In this space, the coin is conveyed backward. Hereinafter, this space is also referred to as the transport space 31S, and the path along which the coin travels at this time is also referred to as the transport path.

The sorting and conveying guide portion 31B (FIG. 2) is configured such that the recognizing and conveying guide portion 31A is rotated about 90 degrees clockwise on the horizontal plane, and the guide portion 41 and the guide surface 41S extend in the left-right direction. A transport space 31S extending in the left-right direction is formed on the upper side thereof.

A conveying belt portion 32 as a conveying action portion is arranged above the conveying guide portion 31 and is composed of four conveying pulleys 43A, 43B, 43C and 43D and a pin belt 44 . Each of the transport pulleys 43A, 43B, 43C, and 43D is formed in a cylindrical shape around an axis extending in the vertical direction, and is rotatably supported around this axis. The conveying pulley 43A is connected to an actuator (not shown), and its rotation is controlled under the control of the coin control section 20. As shown in FIG.

Incidentally, the transport pulley 43A is arranged near the front end of the recognition transport guide portion 31A. The transport pulley 43B is arranged near the rear end of the recognition transport guide portion 31A and near the left end of the distribution transport guide portion 31B. The transport pulley 43C is arranged near the right end of the sorting transport guide portion 31B. Further, the transport pulley 43D is arranged on the front right side of the transport pulley 43B.

The pin belt 44 is composed of a flexible endless belt 45 and a plurality of pins 46 provided at predetermined intervals on the belt 45 . The belt 45 is stretched along a path that goes around the transport pulleys 43A, 43B and 43C and contacts the transport pulley 43D. Further, the belt 45 runs approximately midway between the right side surface of the left restricting portion 42L and the left side surface of the right restricting portion 42R in the recognition transport guide portion 31A, that is, above the center in the horizontal direction of the transport space 31S. Incidentally, the lower end of the belt 45 forms a sufficiently large gap with respect to the thickness of one coin between the guide surface 41S.

The pin 46 has a cylindrical shape with a central axis along the vertical direction. The upper end of the pin 46 is located near the upper end of the belt 45, and the lower end of the pin 46 projects below the lower end of the belt 45, forming a guide surface. It has reached the vicinity of 41S. As shown in FIG. 4, the gap formed between the lower end of the pin 46 and the guide surface 41S is a fine gap sufficiently smaller than the thickness of one coin. Further, the transport pulley 43A described above is provided with a sensor that detects the position of the pin 46 and notifies the coin control unit 20 of it.

With such a configuration, the conveying section 22 drives the actuator based on the control of the coin control section 20, thereby rotating the conveying pulley 43A of the conveying belt section 32 clockwise in FIG. The coin control unit 20 operates the deposit separating unit 21 in accordance with the timing of the pins 46, thereby sending out the coins CN between the pins 46 as shown in FIG. 3(D).

As a result, the conveying unit 22 places a coin on the guide surface 41S of the recognition conveying guide unit 31A (FIG. 4), and regulates the movement range in the left-right direction by the left restricting unit 42L and the right restricting unit 42R. A backward force is applied to each coin by the pin 46 so that each coin can be transported backward along the transport path. In addition, the transport unit 22 places the coins on the guide surface 41S in the sorting transport guide unit 31B, applies a rightward force to each coin by the pins 46, and transports the coins rightward along the transport path. can be done.

The coin recognition unit 23 (FIG. 2) is arranged near the center of the recognition/conveyance guide unit 31A of the conveyance unit 22, detects information on each coin using a plurality of sensors, and recognizes the coin based on the obtained detection result. It recognizes the denomination, authenticity, degree of damage or defacement, etc. of the coin, and notifies the coin control unit 20 of the obtained recognition result (details will be described later). In response to this, the coin control unit 20 determines the destination of the coin based on the notified recognition result.

As shown in a schematic side view of FIG. 5, the reject branching portion 24 is arranged behind the coin recognition portion 23, and is composed of a hole portion 24H, a branching plate 24V, an actuator (not shown), and the like. ing. The hole portion 24H is a rectangular hole vertically passing through the guide portion 41 of the recognition/conveyance guide portion 31A, and the length of each side is slightly larger than the diameter of the coin. The branch plate 24V is a rectangular plate-like member capable of closing the hole 24H, and is supported in the vicinity of its rear end so as to be rotatable with respect to the guide portion 41 about an axis along the left-right direction. It is

The actuator rotates the branch plate 24V by supplying a driving force to the closed state (indicated by the solid line in FIG. 5) in which the hole 24H is closed by the branch plate 24V and the front end of the branch plate 24V. The guide portion 41 (guide surface 41S) can be lifted upward to open the hole portion 24H (indicated by broken lines in FIG. 5). Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 2, the branch plate 24V is formed with a large cut portion extending from the front end to the rear end near the center in the left-right direction. so as to avoid interference with

The reject conveying path 25 is a slope-like conveying path formed to gradually descend from the reject branch portion 24 toward the reject port 17. When a coin falls from the reject branch portion 24, gravity is used. to make the coin slide down and reach the reject port 17.例文帳に追加

For example, the coin control unit 20 recognizes, in the recognition result obtained from the coin recognition unit 23, that the coin that has passed through the coin recognition unit 23 is a coin that cannot be handled by the coin receiving/dispensing unit 12 (hereinafter referred to as a rejected coin). If so, the destination of the coin is determined to be the reject port 17 (FIGS. 1 and 2). At this time, the reject branching unit 24 shifts the branching plate 24V to the open state by the actuator based on the control of the coin control unit 20 . As a result, the coin comes into contact with the lower surface of the branch plate 24V and drops downward from the hole 24H, sliding down along the reject transport path 25 as indicated by the coin CN and the arrow U1 in FIG. 6(A). It advances forward, eventually reaches the reject port 17, and is taken out by the cashier.

On the other hand, if the recognition result obtained from the coin recognition unit 23 indicates that the coin passing through the coin recognition unit 23 is recognized as one of the denominations that can be handled by the coin receiving/dispensing unit 12, the coin control unit 20 , the coin storage 27 (details will be described later) of the denomination is determined as the destination of the coin. At this time, the reject branching unit 24 shifts the branching plate 24V to the closed state by the actuator under the control of the coin control unit 20 . As a result, the coin passes above the branch plate 24V at the reject branch portion 24 and is moved rearward along the recognition/conveyance guide portion 31A by the transfer portion 22, as indicated by the coin CN and the arrow U2 in FIG. 6B. , and then to the right along the distribution/conveyance guide portion 31B.

The six storage branching portions 26 (26A to 26F) shown in FIG. 2 are arranged so as to be aligned along the left-right direction in the sorting and conveying guide portion 31B. Each storage branching portion 26 is configured in the same manner as the rejecting branching portion 24, and includes a hole portion 26H provided in the guide portion 41A in the sorting and conveying guide portion 31B, a rotatable branch plate 26V, and an actuator (not shown). ) etc. Different denominations (for example, 1 yen, 10 yen, 100 yen, 500 yen, 50 yen, and 5 yen) are assigned to the respective storage branch units 26 .

The six storages 27 (27A to 27F) are arranged adjacent to each other along the left-right direction. Each storage box 27 is formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped that is long in the front-rear direction, short in the left-right direction, and has a certain depth in the vertical direction, so that coins can be stored therein. Different denominations are assigned to the respective storages 27 in the same manner as the storage branching portions 26 .

The vicinity of the rear end of each storage 27 is positioned below the sorting/conveying guide portion 31B, that is, below each storage branching portion 26 . For this reason, when a coin falls from each storage compartment branching portion 26, the coin is stored in the storage compartment 27 positioned below. The front end of each storage 27 is adjacent to the rear side of the coin dispensing port 18 .

Based on the denomination recognized by the coin recognition section 23 , the coin control section 20 appropriately opens and closes each storage branch section 26 . As a result, the coin control unit 20 causes the transport unit 22 to transport the coin CN along the sorting transport guide unit 31B as indicated by the coin CN and the arrow U3 in FIG. It can be dropped from the storage compartment branching part 26 and stored in the storage compartment 27.例文帳に追加

The bottom of the storage 27 (FIG. 2) is inclined so as to rise from the rear side to the front side, and a conveying belt is incorporated. The conveying belt is stretched around a plurality of conveying pulleys (not shown), and when a driving force is supplied from an actuator (not shown), the conveying belt is caused to run, thereby moving the bottom surface of the container 27. can be advanced forward and backward.

The six dispensing adjustment units 28 (28A to 28F) are arranged near the front end of each storage 27 (27A to 27F), and are equipped with a rotating shaft 28X, a dispensing roller 28R, actuators and sensors (not shown), and the like. It is composed of The rotating shaft 28X is formed in an elongated columnar shape along the left-right direction, is arranged so as to pass through the six storages 27, and is rotatably supported. Each payout roller 28R is formed in a cylindrical shape centered on an axis extending in the left-right direction, and is inserted through the rotating shaft 28X. Under the control of the coin control unit 20, the actuator supplies driving force to the rotating shaft 28X to rotate it. The sensor detects a coin in front of the dispensing roller 28R and notifies the coin control unit 20 of the obtained detection result.

When the coins stored in the storage box 27 are to be dispensed as change, the coin control part 20 transports the stored coins forward by running the transport belt to move the bottom part forward. In addition, the coin control unit 20 monitors the detection results obtained from the sensors of the dispensing adjusting unit 28, and rotates the dispensing rollers 28R as appropriate, thereby controlling the number of coins dispensed from the storages 27. adjust. As a result, the coin depositing/dispensing unit 12 can pay out the desired denomination and number of coins from the storage box 27, store them in the coin dispensing port 18, and allow the cashier to take out the coins.

[1-3. Configuration of coin recognition unit]
Next, the configuration of the coin recognition unit 23 will be described in detail. As shown in a schematic plan view in FIG. 7 and a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line A1-A2 in FIG. are arranged so that they can be Specifically, the coin recognition unit 23 includes a recognition control unit 50, a lower sensor frame 51, an upper left sensor frame 52, an upper right sensor frame 53, an optical information acquisition unit 54, a magnetic information acquisition unit 55, a blade urging unit 57, and a brush urging unit. A portion 58 and the like are provided.

Incidentally, in the coin recognizing section 23, the pin belt 44 conveys the coin from the front to the rear in the same manner as the recognition conveying guide section 31A of the conveying section 22 does. For this reason, hereinafter, the front side is also referred to as the upstream side, and the rear side is also referred to as the downstream side, focusing on the movement of the coin. Further, hereinafter, the rearward direction in which coins are conveyed by the conveying unit 22 is also referred to as the conveying direction, and the left-right direction orthogonal to the conveying direction on the guide surface 41S is also referred to as the width direction.

The recognition control unit 50 is mainly composed of a CPU (not shown), reads various programs such as a recognition program from a storage unit such as a flash memory, executes them, and obtains them from the optical information acquisition unit 54 and the magnetic information acquisition unit 55. Based on the various information received, various processes related to coin recognition are performed.

The lower sensor frame 51 is made of a non-magnetic material and formed in the shape of a relatively large rectangular parallelepiped. A guide surface 51S, which is the upper surface of the lower sensor frame 51, is formed flat and constitutes a plane continuous with the guide surface 41S of the guide portion 41. As shown in FIG. Parts of the left restricting portion 42L and the right restricting portion 42R are arranged on the upper side of the lower sensor frame 51 . A thin plate-shaped reference contact plate 42B is provided on the right side of the left restricting portion 42L, and the right side surface of the reference contact plate 42B serves as a reference surface 42S. Incidentally, the reference surface 42S is a plane substantially perpendicular to the guide surface 41S.

The upper left sensor frame 52 is made of a non-magnetic material and formed in a relatively small rectangular parallelepiped shape. ) are fixed at equal intervals. That is, the upper left sensor frame 52 is arranged at a location facing the guide surface 41S across the transfer space 31S.

The upper right sensor frame 53 is made of a non-magnetic material and has a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is shorter in the front-rear direction than the upper left sensor frame 52. The right rear portion of the upper side of the lower sensor frame 51 extends from the guide surface 51S to the right restricting portion 42R. They are fixed at intervals equivalent to their thickness. Also, when the upper right sensor frame 53 is viewed from the front side (FIG. 8), the vicinity of the lower left end (apex) has a shape that is obliquely cut off. Incidentally, a gap is formed between the upper left sensor frame 52 and the upper right sensor frame 53 to allow the pin belt 44 to pass therethrough. Below, the upper left sensor frame 52 and the upper right sensor frame 53 are collectively referred to as a conveyance facing section.

The optical information acquisition section 54 as an optical sensor is arranged so as to be embedded in the front side of the lower sensor frame 51 in the middle of the guide section 41, and includes a light transmitting member 54T, a light emitting element (not shown), a lens, an imaging element, and the like. It is composed of The light-transmitting member 54T is a plate-shaped member such as single-crystal sapphire, which has light-transmitting properties and high strength. A guide surface 54TS, which is an upper surface of the light transmitting member 54T, is formed flat and forms a plane continuous with the front guide surface 41S and the rear guide surface 51S. For convenience, hereinafter, the guide surface 54TS and the guide surface 51S are also referred to as the guide surface 41S.

The light emitting element is arranged below the light transmitting member 54T, and emits light such as visible light or infrared light to travel upward. This light is transmitted through the light transmission member 54T and reaches the transport space 31S above it. Furthermore, when there is a coin in the transport space 31S, this light is reflected by the lower surface of the coin to become reflected light, which passes through the light transmitting member 54T and travels downward.

The lens is arranged on the lower side of the light transmitting member 54T at a position different from the light emitting element, and collects the reflected light. The imaging device is arranged at or near the focal point on the lower side of the lens. The recognition control unit 50 forms image data based on the obtained electric signal, and uses this image data for coin recognition processing.

The magnetic information acquisition unit 55 is composed of three sets of sensors: a lower material sensor 55A, a whole material sensor 55B, and an outer diameter sensor 55C. The lower material sensor 55A is positioned slightly to the right of the upper left sensor frame 52, as shown in FIG. The lower material sensor 55A is embedded in the lower sensor frame 51 below the transfer space 31S, as shown in FIG. 9A, which is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line B1-B2 of FIG. .

The lower material sensor 55A has a magnetic flux transmitter that transmits magnetic flux upward and a magnetic flux receiver that receives the magnetic flux coming from above. , a lower material reception signal is generated and notified to the recognition control unit 50 . The recognition control unit 50 determines the surface material of the coin's lower surface based on the obtained lower surface material reception signal.

As shown in FIG. 7, the overall material sensor 55B is arranged on the left rear side of the lower material sensor 55A, that is, at a location relatively close to the reference surface 42S. The overall material sensor 55B is embedded in the lower sensor frame 51 below the transfer space 31S, as shown in FIG. It is composed of a transmitting section 55BL and an overall material sensor receiving section 55BU embedded in the upper left sensor frame 52 above the transfer space 31S.

The overall material sensor transmitter 55BL has a magnetic flux transmitter that transmits magnetic flux upward. When there is a coin in the transfer space 31S, part of this magnetic flux is blocked by the coin, and the rest passes through the coin. The overall material sensor receiving unit 55BU receives the magnetic flux transmitted from the overall material sensor transmitting unit 55BL and transmitted through the coin, generates an overall material receiving signal, and notifies the recognition control unit 50 of the signal. The recognition control unit 50 determines the overall material of the coin based on the obtained overall material reception signal.

As shown in FIG. 7, the outer diameter sensor 55C is behind the overall material sensor 55B and to the right of the lower material sensor 55A and the overall material sensor 55B, that is, to the right of the portion through which the pin belt 44 passes. , and is arranged at a position relatively far from the reference plane 42S. The outer diameter sensor 55C is an outer diameter sensor embedded in the lower sensor frame 51 below the transfer space 31S, as shown in FIG. It is composed of a transmitter 55CL and an outer diameter sensor receiver 55CU embedded in the upper right sensor frame 53 above the transport space 31S.

The outer diameter sensor transmitter 55CL has a magnetic flux transmitter that transmits magnetic flux upward, like the overall material sensor transmitter 55BL. When there is a coin in the transfer space 31S, part of this magnetic flux is blocked by the coin, and the rest passes through the coin. The outer diameter sensor receiving section 55CU, like the whole material sensor receiving section 55BU, receives the magnetic flux transmitted from the outer diameter sensor transmitting section 55CL and transmitted through the coin, generates an outer diameter reception signal, and generates an outer diameter reception signal. Notify 50. The recognition control unit 50 determines the outer diameter of the coin based on the obtained outer diameter reception signal.

By the way, each sensor of the magnetic information acquiring section 55 is adjusted in the left-right direction mounting position on the premise that the coin is conveyed in the conveying space 31S with its left end in contact with the reference surface 42S. Therefore, in the coin recognition section 23 (FIG. 7), the blade biasing section 57 and the brush biasing section 58 bias the coin toward the reference surface 42S in the transport space 31S.

The blade biasing portion 57 (FIG. 7) is composed of a shaft 57X, a blade 57A, a contact portion 57B, a locking body 57C and a spring 57D. The shaft body 57X has an elongated columnar shape with a central axis along the vertical direction, and is erected upward from a portion of the top surface of the guide section 41 located on the left side of the optical information acquisition section 54 .

The blade 57A is made of a predetermined resin material, and has a shape like a polyhedron that is long in the front-rear direction, short in the left-right direction, and short in the vertical direction. The vertical length of the blade 57A is smaller (shorter) than the vertical length of the left regulating portion 42L and the right regulating portion 42R, that is, the vertical length of the transfer space 31S, and is larger than the thickness of one coin. It's getting bigger (longer).

The blade 57A has such a shape that about half of the front side is bent to the left in about half of the rear side. The left side surface of the blade 57A has a shape in which one straight line is bent into a crank shape at two points when viewed from above. The central portion is along the diagonal direction connecting the right front side and the left rear side. Incidentally, the blade 57A has flat upper and lower side surfaces substantially parallel to the guide surface 41S, and front, rear, left, and right side surfaces substantially perpendicular to the guide surface 41S.

The rear end of the blade 57A is positioned rearward of the lower material sensor 55A, forward of the overall material sensor 55B and outer diameter sensor 55C, and forward of the front end of the upper right sensor frame 53. . Further, the blade 57A has a round shaft hole 57AH extending vertically through the blade 57A near the front end thereof. The shaft hole 57AH is inserted through the shaft 57X, and the blade 57A can rotate on the guide surface 41S about the shaft 57X.

The contact portion 57B is made of a non-magnetic and highly rigid material such as stainless steel or ceramic, and is electrically insulated from other portions. The contact portion 57B is composed of a central contact portion 57BC and a rear contact portion 57BE each formed in a thin plate shape. The central contact portion 57BC covers the central portion of the left side surface of the blade 57A. The rear contact portion 57BE covers the rear portion of the left side surface of the blade 57A.

The locking body 57C has a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is sufficiently smaller than the blade 57A, and is arranged on the rear side and left side of the shaft body 57X on the guide surface 41S. When the blade 57A tries to rotate counterclockwise about the shaft 57X, the locking member 57C abuts on the front portion of the left side surface of the blade 57A to limit the rotation range. It's becoming The spring 57D is, for example, a coil spring extending in the left-right direction, and is compressed from its natural state and has its right end fixed to the guide portion 41 and its left end attached near the rear end of the blade 57A.

With such a configuration, the blade urging portion 57 expands or reduces (that is, changes) the distance between the contact portion 57B and the reference surface 42S by rotating the blade 57A around the shaft 57X. can move the contact portion 57B closer to or away from the reference surface 42S. Further, the blade urging portion 57 rotates the blade 57A counterclockwise around the shaft 57X by the action of the restoring force of the spring 57D, and stops the blade 57A when it comes into contact with the locking member 57C. At this time, the rear contact portion 57BE is located on the right side of the lower material sensor 55A, and forms a relatively small (short) gap with the reference surface 42S in the left-right direction. This gap is shorter than the diameter of the smallest coin handled by the coin deposit/withdrawal unit 12 (hereinafter referred to as the smallest diameter coin).

The brush biasing portion 58 ( FIG. 7 ) has an elongated shape in the front-rear direction as a whole, that is, a substantially linear shape extending in the front-rear direction when viewed from above, and is attached to the left side surface of the upper right sensor frame 53 . ing. That is, the brush biasing portion 58 is provided on the side opposite to the reference surface 42S across the pin belt 44 in the left-right direction. The front end of the brush biasing portion 58 is located rearward (downstream) of the front end of the upper right sensor frame 53 and forward (upstream) of the outer diameter sensor 55C. Further, the rear end of the brush biasing portion 58 is located on the rear side (downstream side) of the outer diameter sensor 55C.

In the front-rear direction, the distance from the rear end of the blade biasing portion 57 to the front end of the brush biasing portion 58 is approximately 0.5 to 1.0 times the diameter of the smallest diameter coin. Also, the distance from the center of the overall material sensor 55B to the front end of the brush biasing portion 58 is about 0.3 to 0.5 times the diameter of the smallest coin. The distance from the front end of the holding portion 58A to the center of the outer diameter sensor 55C is about 0.2 to 0.4 times the diameter of the smallest diameter coin. The distance from the center of the outer diameter sensor 55C to the rear end of the brush biasing portion 58 is 0.5 times or more the diameter of the smallest diameter coin.

Further, the distance from the reference surface 42S in the left-right direction to the front end of the brush biasing portion 58 is larger than the radius of the largest diameter coin and slightly shorter than the diameter of the smallest diameter coin. The length of the brush urging portion 58 in the front-rear direction is approximately equal to the diameter of the smallest coin.

The brush biasing portion 58 is composed of a holding portion 58A, a hair body portion 58B and a restricting portion 58C. The holding portion 58A is attached to the left side surface of the upper right sensor frame 53, and is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is long in the front-rear direction, short in the vertical direction, and extremely short in the horizontal direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the upper and lower ends of the holding portion 58A are located at approximately the same height as the upper and lower ends of the left side surface of the upper right sensor frame 53. As shown in FIG.

The hair body portion 58B is a bundle of a large number of hair bodies, that is, a large number of long, fibrous objects, and the vicinity of the upper end thereof is embedded and held inside the holding portion 58A. That is, the hair body portion 58B is in a state in which the hair portion 58B grows downward from substantially the entire area of the lower surface of the holding portion 58A. In other words, the brush biasing portion 58 is configured in a shape similar to a so-called brush. Each hair body constituting the hair body portion 58B has a linear elongated shape along the vertical direction, and is a flexible member having flexibility. For convenience of explanation, the lower ends of the bristles 58B and each bristles are hereinafter also referred to as one end, and the upper ends are also referred to as the other ends.

The vertical length of the hair body portion 58B is slightly longer than the vertical length of the right restricting portion 42R, that is, the vertical length of the transport space 31S. It is about 5 to 6 times as thick as the thickest coin (hereinafter referred to as the thickest coin). The lower end of the hair body portion 58B is located above the guide surface 41S with a slight gap. This gap is ⅓ or less of the thickness of the smallest coin handled by the coin depositing/dispensing unit 12 (hereinafter referred to as the minimum thickness coin).

If an external force directed in the horizontal direction is applied to the vicinity of the lower end of the hair body portion 58B, due to the flexibility of each hair body, the hair body portion 58B deforms into a shape bent in the direction of the external force and returns to its original shape ( A restoring force that tries to return to a linear shape along the vertical direction is applied.

The restricting portion 58C is configured as a plate-like member that is long in the front-rear direction, short in the vertical direction, and thin in the horizontal direction. The longitudinal length of the restricting portion 58C is equal to the longitudinal length of the holding portion 58A. The vertical length of the restricting portion 58C is longer than the vertical length of the holding portion 58A, and is about the sum of the vertical length of the holding portion 58A and about half the vertical length of the hair portion 58B. is the length of

The restricting portion 58C is attached to the left side of the holding portion 58A so that the positions of the upper end, the front end and the rear end thereof are substantially aligned with the holding portion 58A. That is, the restricting portion 58C has its lower portion adjacent to the left side of the approximately upper half of the hair body portion 58B. As a result, the restricting portion 58C restricts the portion near the lower end of the hair portion 58B from being largely deflected to the left while allowing the portion near the lower end thereof to be deflected forward, rearward, and rightward.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, the coin recognition section 23 is provided with three types of sensors as the magnetic information acquisition section 55: a lower material sensor 55A, a whole material sensor 55B, and an outer diameter sensor 55C. Since the lower material sensor 55A, the overall material sensor transmitter 55BL of the overall material sensor 55B, and the outer diameter sensor transmitter 55CL of the outer diameter sensor 55C are arranged below the transport space 31S, the lower sensor frame 51 provided within.

On the other hand, the overall material sensor receiving portion 55BU of the overall material sensor 55B and the outer diameter sensor receiving portion 55CU of the outer diameter sensor 55C, which are part of the magnetic information acquiring portion 55, need to be arranged above the transfer space 31S. That is, the overall material sensor receiving portion 55BU and the outer diameter sensor receiving portion 55CU are positioned to face the overall material sensor transmitting portion 55BL and the outer diameter sensor transmitting portion 55CL, respectively, within a predetermined distance for the convenience of receiving the magnetic flux. should be placed in

For this reason, in the coin recognition unit 23, an upper left sensor frame 52 and an upper right sensor frame 53 are provided only on the rear side of the upper side of the transport space 31S, respectively. placed respectively.

In this way, the coin recognition unit 23 includes the optical information acquisition unit 54 and the magnetic information acquisition unit 55 (the lower material sensor 55A, the overall material sensor 55B, and the outer diameter sensor 55C) that acquire information from the coin, as well as the blade biasing unit. It has a portion 57 and a brush biasing portion 58 .

[1-4. Recognition processing of coins in the coin recognition unit]
Next, a coin recognition process in the coin recognition unit 23, that is, various information is acquired from the coin by the optical information acquisition unit 54 and the magnetic information acquisition unit 55 while the coin is being conveyed by the pin belt 44 of the conveying belt unit 32. Processing will be explained.

In the coin depositing/dispensing unit 12, as shown in FIGS. 3(A) to 3(D), when the coin CN is inserted into the coin depositing port 16, the separation disk 16D is rotated and the coin is ejected from the gap with the separation gate 16G. The coins CN are separated one by one and let out, and are sent backward at regular intervals by a deposit separation part 21.例文帳に追加As a result, each coin CN is transported rearward along the recognition transport guide portion 31A by each pin 46 of the pin belt 44 and reaches the coin recognition portion 23 . At this time, as shown in FIG. 3(D), the coin CN is conveyed without necessarily contacting the reference surface 42S.

In the coin recognition portion 23, the coin CN first contacts the central contact portion 57BC of the blade biasing portion 57, as shown in FIG. 10(A). Here, the central contact portion 57BC is an inclined surface that connects the right front side and the left rear side when viewed from above, and is inclined with respect to the conveying direction (that is, the rearward direction). Therefore, the coin CN is subjected to a force acting in the left front direction from the central contact portion 57BC. This force can be regarded as the resultant force of the forward force and the leftward force. On the other hand, the coin CN receives a relatively large rearward force from the pin 46 of the pin belt 44 .

Therefore, the coin CN moves backward by canceling the forward component of the force received from the blade biasing portion 57, and the leftward component of the force received from the blade biasing portion 57. 10(B), the left end is brought into contact with the reference surface 42S.

Subsequently, in the coin recognition unit 23, as shown in FIG. 10(C), when the coin CN receives a backward force from the pin 46 of the pin belt 44, the left end of the coin CN is brought into contact with the reference surface 42S. Continue to move backwards. At this time, the coin recognition unit 23 transmits part of the force applied to the coin CN from the pin 46 to the blade biasing unit 57 from near the right end of the coin CN. As a result, the blade biasing portion 57 rotates the blade 57A clockwise while compressing the spring 57D, thereby increasing the distance between the rear contact portion 57BE and the reference surface 42S. At this time, the coin recognizing unit 23 detects information from the coin CN by the lower material sensor 55A because part of the coin CN reaches directly above the lower material sensor 55A.

Eventually, when the distance between the rear contact portion 57BE and the reference surface 42S widens to the same as the diameter of the coin CN, the coin recognizing unit 23 continues to move the left end of the coin CN to the reference surface as shown in FIG. 10(D). While keeping the coin CN in contact with 42S, the coin CN is advanced rearward while the vicinity of the right end of the coin CN is brought into contact with the rear contact portion 57BE. At this time, the blade urging portion 57 applies a substantially leftward force to the coin CN from the rear contact portion 57BE. Therefore, the coin CN can continue to advance backward while keeping its left end in contact with the reference surface 42S.

Thereafter, in the coin recognition unit 23, as shown in FIG. 11, part of the coin CN reaches the position of the overall material sensor 55B, that is, between the overall material sensor receiving unit 55BU and the overall material sensor transmitting unit 55BL. to detect information from the coin CN.

At this time, in the coin recognizing unit 23, the rear right portion of the coin CN reaches directly below the brush urging unit 58, so that as shown in FIG. The vicinity of the lower end of 58B is biased in the right rearward upward direction and is in a bent state. As a result, the brush urging portion 58 exerts a force in the left-front-downward direction on the coin CN by the restoring force of the bristle portion 58B. This force can be viewed as the sum of a forward force, a leftward force, and a downward force. On the other hand, the coin CN receives a relatively large rearward force from the pin 46 of the pin belt 44 .

As a result, the coin CN moves backward by canceling the forward component of the force received from the brush biasing portion 58, and the left end of the coin CN contacts the reference surface 42S due to the leftward component. The downward component keeps the lower surface in contact with the guide surface 41S.

Subsequently, in the coin recognition unit 23, the pin belt 44 travels to convey the coin CN further rearward, and as shown in FIG. A state in which no force is applied from the portion 57 is obtained.

Here, as shown in FIG. 14A which is a cross-sectional view taken along line F1-F2 in FIG. 13, near the front end or near the center of the brush biasing portion 58, the vicinity of the lower end of the hair body portion 58B rides on the coin CN. At this time, since the coin CN advances in the rearward direction, the hair body portion 58B receives a force in the rearward direction and is restricted from bending in the leftward direction by the restricting portion 58C. It will be bent upwards. Therefore, the hair body portion 58B exerts a force in the left-front-downward direction on the coin CN due to the action of the restoring force.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14B which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line G1-G2 in FIG. 13, in the vicinity of the rear end of the brush urging portion 58, similarly to the case shown in FIG. As a result, the vicinity of the lower end of the hair body portion 58B is urged in the right rearward upward direction and bent. As a result, the brush urging portion 58 exerts a force in the left-front-downward direction on the coin CN by the restoring force of the bristle portion 58B.

Here, the force acting on the coin CN from each portion of the brush biasing portion 58 in the left front and downward direction is the resultant force of the forward force, the leftward force, and the downward force, as in the case described above. can be regarded as On the other hand, the coin CN receives a relatively large rearward force from the pin 46 of the pin belt 44 . Therefore, the coin CN moves in the rearward direction by canceling the forward component of the force received from the brush urging portion 58, and the left end is brought into contact with the reference surface 42S by the leftward component. The downward component keeps the lower surface in contact with the guide surface 41S.

Further, at this time, the coin recognizing unit 23 detects information from the coin CN because part of the coin CN reaches between the outer diameter sensor transmitting portion 55CL and the outer diameter sensor receiving portion 55CU of the outer diameter sensor 55C. . That is, the coin recognition unit 23 can detect information about the outer diameter of the coin CN while keeping the left end of the coin CN in contact with the reference surface 42S and the lower surface thereof in contact with the guide surface 41S.

[1-5. effects, etc.]
In the above configuration, the coin recognition unit 23 of the coin depositing/dispensing unit 12 according to the first embodiment, in addition to the optical information acquiring unit 54 and the magnetic information acquiring unit 55 for detecting information on the coin, detects the coin as a reference. A blade biasing portion 57 and a brush biasing portion 58 are provided to bias the surface 42S.

When the coin CN is conveyed from the front side by the pin belt 44 of the conveying unit 22, the coin recognizing unit 23 urges the coin CN leftward by the blade urging unit 57 so that the left end of the coin CN contacts the reference surface 42S. 10A to 10D). At this time, the blade urging portion 57 advances the coin CN leftward and abuts the reference surface 42S because the central contact portion 57BC is inclined with respect to the conveying direction. After that, the blade urging portion 57 rotates the blade 57A appropriately, and utilizes the restoring force of the spring 57D to keep the left end of the coin CN in contact with the reference surface 42S. Move backwards.

Subsequently, the coin recognizing unit 23 advances the coin CN backward while maintaining the state in which the coin CN is brought into contact with the reference surface 42S by the brush biasing unit 58 (FIGS. 11 to 14). At this time, when the coin CN comes into contact with the vicinity of the lower end of the hair portion 58B, the hair portion 58B bends in the right rear upward direction, and the restoring force of the brush biasing portion 58 acts in the left front downward direction. to act. As a result, the brush biasing portion 58 keeps the coin CN in contact with the reference surface 42S by the leftward component of the force, and presses the coin CN against the guide surface 41S by the downward component.

The coin recognizing unit 23 causes the coin CN to abut against the reference surface 42S by the blade urging unit 57 and the brush urging unit 58 in this way, and advances the coin CN backward while pressing it against the guide surface 41S. Information on the coin CN is detected by the lower material sensor 55A, the overall material sensor 55B, and the outer diameter sensor 55C of the acquisition unit 55, respectively. Therefore, the coin recognizing unit 23 can accurately determine the surface material, the overall material, and the outer diameter of the coin CN in the recognition control unit 50 based on the information obtained from each sensor. The denomination and authenticity of CN can be recognized with high accuracy.

In the coin recognition unit 23, the brush biasing unit 58 is arranged on the right side of the pin belt 44, that is, on the side opposite to the reference surface 42S across the pin belt 44 (FIG. 7). Therefore, in the coin recognition unit 23, when the coin CN reaches the front end of the brush urging unit 58 due to the movement of the pin belt 44 (FIG. 11), the right side of the front end portion of the coin and the left front side as viewed from above are detected. The part inclined so as to connect the right rear side is brought into contact with the vicinity of the lower end of the hair part 58B. At this time, in the coin recognizing portion 23, since the coin CN advances in the rearward direction, the vicinity of the lower end of the hair portion 58B can be positively deflected in the right rearward upward direction, and the restoring force thereof causes the coin CN in the left forward downward direction. can be applied to the coin CN, that is, a force can be applied to the reference surface 42S and the guide surface 41S.

Further, in the brush biasing portion 58, a restricting portion 58C is provided at a position adjacent to the right side of the holding portion 58A and the hair body portion 58B (FIG. 8). Therefore, in the coin recognizing portion 23, when the vicinity of the lower end of the hair portion 58B comes into contact with the coin CN or rides on the coin CN, the hair portion 58B can be prevented from bending to the left. As a result, the coin recognizing portion 23 can prevent the restoring force of the hair body portion 58B from applying a force including a rightward component to the coin CN, that is, from applying a force that separates the coin CN from the reference surface 42S. , the coin CN can be stably brought into contact with the reference surface 42S.

Here, for comparison with the coin recognition unit 23 according to the first embodiment, a virtual first coin recognition unit 123 in which the configuration of the blade biasing unit 57 and the brush biasing unit 58 are changed in two ways; Assuming the virtual second coin recognition unit 223, the case of recognizing the conveyed coin CN will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 corresponding to FIGS. 7 and 8, the first virtual first coin recognition unit 123 has a blade biasing force greater than that of the coin recognition unit 23 according to the first embodiment. A blade biasing portion 157 is provided in place of the portion 57, while the brush biasing portion 58 is omitted. The blade biasing portion 157 has a configuration similar to that of the blade biasing portion 57, but is provided with a blade 157A and a contact portion 157B instead of the blade 57A and the contact portion 57B.

The blade 157A has a shape such that the rear portion of the blade 57A extends rearward and reaches the rear side of the outer diameter sensor 55C. The contact portion 157B has a rear contact portion 157BE that replaces the rear contact portion 57BE and extends rearward to match the blade 157A. That is, the blade 157A and the rear contact portion 157BE are so arranged that a part of them enters the lower side of the upper right sensor frame 53. As shown in FIG. Incidentally, in the virtual first coin recognition unit 123, a part of the right restricting unit 42R is omitted from the viewpoint of avoiding interference with the blade 157A, and the upper right sensor frame 53 is supported by the supporting unit 156 provided on the rear side. It is

When the coin CN is conveyed from the front by the pin belt 44, the virtual first coin recognition unit 123 urges the coin CN with a blade as shown in FIGS. 17A to 17D corresponding to FIG. The blade 157A is brought into contact with the portion 157 and rotated as appropriate, so that the coin CN can be advanced backward while being brought into contact with the reference surface 42S.

However, in the first virtual coin recognizing unit 123, although the blade urging unit 157 applies a force in a generally leftward direction to the coin CN, this force contains almost no downward component. There is a possibility that it will rise from the guide surface 41S during transportation. 16, the gap between the rear portion of the blade 157A and the upper right sensor frame 53 is relatively narrow in the virtual first coin recognition unit 123, so that foreign matter is detected between them as shown in FIG. OBJ may get caught. In this case, since the blade 157A cannot rotate in the virtual first coin recognition unit 123, there is a possibility that the coin CN cannot be urged toward the reference surface 42S. In these cases, in the virtual first coin recognition unit 123, the accuracy of information detected from the coin CN by each sensor of the magnetic information acquisition unit 55 may be significantly lowered.

In this case, the virtual first coin recognition unit 123 requires maintenance work to remove the foreign object OBJ. It is conceivable to configure However, in this case, in the virtual first coin recognition unit 123, the positional accuracy of the outer diameter sensor receiving portion 55CU in the upper right sensor frame 53 with respect to the outer diameter sensor transmitting portion 55CL in the lower sensor frame 51 is lowered. There is a risk that the accuracy of the received signal will decrease, and that the accuracy of determining the outer diameter of the coin CN will also decrease.

As shown in FIG. 19 corresponding to FIG. 7, the second virtual second coin recognition unit 223 is different from the coin recognition unit 23 according to the first embodiment in that the blade biasing unit 57 is omitted. A virtual brush bias 258 is provided to replace the . The imaginary brush urging portion 258 is arranged on the front side of the brush urging portion 58, is configured in the same manner as the brush urging portion 58, and has a bristle portion 258B and the like corresponding to the bristle portion 58B. there is

When a coin CN is conveyed from the front by the pin belt 44, the virtual second coin recognizing unit 223 contacts the front end portion of the virtual brush urging portion 258, and moves near the lower end of the hair body portion 258B to the right front. It is flexed by urging it upward. As a result, the imaginary brush urging portion 258 exerts a force in the left front and downward direction on the coin CN by the restoring force of the bristle portion 258B, and urges the coin CN in the left direction by the leftward component thereof.

However, in the virtual second coin recognizing portion 223, the leftward force acting on the coin CN from the hair body portion 258B is smaller (weaker) than in the blade urging portion 57 (FIG. 7). For this reason, in the virtual second coin recognition unit 223, for example, when the coin CN is transported at a position relatively rightward in the transport space 31S, the left end of the coin CN contacts the reference surface 42S. It can take a long time. Then, in the virtual second coin recognition unit 223, as shown in FIGS. 20A to 20C, when each sensor of the magnetic information acquisition unit 55 detects information from the coin CN, the left end of the coin CN is used as a reference. There is a possibility that it is not in contact with the surface 42S, and in this case the accuracy of the detected information may be significantly degraded.

As shown in FIG. 21 , the virtual second coin recognizing unit 223 recognizes the pin 46 of the pin belt 44 and the virtual brush CN when part of the coin CN contacts the front end of the brush urging unit 58 . A force is applied from the bristle portion 258B of the urging portion 258 and the bristle portion 58B of the brush urging portion 58, respectively.

At this time, the pin 46 applies a relatively large rearward force F46 to the vicinity of the front end of the coin CN. Each portion from the front end to the rear end of the hair body portion 258B applies a relatively small force F258 mainly in the forward and downward direction on the upper surface of the coin CN slightly to the right, that is, to the right of the pin 46. As shown in FIG. Furthermore, the front end portion of the hair body portion 58B applies a relatively small force F58 toward the left front and downward direction to the right side of the coin CN in the vicinity of the rear end thereof.

That is, on the coin CN, the force F46 and the force F258 act in opposite directions in the front-rear direction, and the force F46 acts on the left side of the force F258. Further, although the force F46 does not include a downward component, the force F258 includes a downward component. Further, the force F58 also includes a forward component and a downward component, similar to the force F258.

Then, a clockwise moment about the point Q located near the front end of the imaginary brush biasing portion 258 is generated in the coin CN. When this force becomes larger than the leftward component of F58 by the brush urging unit 58, in the virtual second coin recognizing unit 223, the coin CN tries to rotate around this point Q, pulling the left end away from the reference plane 42S. put away. As a result, in the virtual second coin recognition unit 223, there is a possibility that the accuracy of detection of information from the coin CN by the outer diameter sensor 55C may be significantly lowered.

Thus, in the first virtual coin recognition unit 123 without the brush biasing unit 58 and the second virtual coin recognition unit 223 without the blade biasing unit 57, the coin CN abuts or contacts the reference surface 42S. It may become difficult to maintain the state, and there is a possibility that the accuracy of information detected from the coin CN may decrease.

On the other hand, in the coin recognition section 23 (FIGS. 7 to 9) according to the first embodiment, the combination of the blade urging section 57 and the brush urging section 58 provides It is easy to bring the coin CN into contact and maintain the contact state, and highly accurate recognition results can be obtained based on the information detected from the coin CN.

According to the above configuration, when a coin CN is conveyed by the pin belt 44, the coin recognizing section 23 of the coin depositing/dispensing section 12 according to the first embodiment moves the coin CN to the left by the blade biasing section 57. to contact the reference surface 42S. Further, the coin recognizing portion 23 causes the coin CN to apply a force in the left front and downward direction by bending the hair body portion 58B of the brush urging portion 58, and the coin CN hits the reference surface 42S and the guide surface 41S. While maintaining the contact state, it is advanced backward, and information is detected by each sensor of the magnetic information acquisition section 55 . As a result, the coin recognition unit 23 can accurately determine the surface material, overall material, and outer diameter of the coin CN from the obtained information, and can recognize the denomination, authenticity, etc. of the coin CN with high accuracy.

[2. Second Embodiment]
A cash register change system 301 (FIG. 1) according to the second embodiment differs from the cash register change system 1 according to the first embodiment in that it has a change machine 303 instead of the change machine 3. are configured in the same manner. The change dispenser 303 differs from the change dispenser 3 according to the first embodiment in that it has a coin depositing/dispensing unit 312 instead of the coin depositing/dispensing unit 12, but is otherwise configured in the same manner. there is The coin depositing/dispensing unit 312 (FIG. 2) differs from the coin depositing/dispensing unit 12 according to the first embodiment in that it has a coin recognition unit 323 instead of the coin recognition unit 23. are similarly constructed.

As shown in FIGS. 22 and 23 corresponding to FIGS. 7 and 8, the coin recognition unit 323 has a left restricting portion 342L and a blade biasing portion 357 instead of the left restricting portion 42L and the blade biasing portion 57. Although different in that a transfer space 331S is formed in place of the transfer space 31S, other points are the same.

Compared to the left restricting portion 42L (FIG. 8), the left restricting portion 342L (FIG. 23) has a right side surface that is not perpendicular to the guide surface 41S, but rather has a transport space that connects the lower left side and the upper right side, that is, the transport space. It is an inclined surface that is inclined toward the 331S side. A thin plate-shaped reference contact plate 342B corresponding to the reference contact plate 42B in the first embodiment is provided on the right side surface of the left restricting portion 342L. It is inclined in the same manner as the right side surface of the left restricting portion 342L and serves as a reference surface 342S. Below, the reference surface 342S is also called a reference surface side inclined surface.

The blade biasing portion 357 differs from the blade biasing portion 57 according to the first embodiment in that it has a blade 357A and a contact portion 357B instead of the blade 57A and the contact portion 57B. Points are similarly configured.

The blade 357A (FIG. 23) has an inclined surface that connects the upper left side and the lower right side in comparison with the blade 57A (FIG. 7). Although they are different in some respects, they are configured in the same way in other respects. The contact portion 357B is composed of a central contact portion 357BC and a rear contact portion 357BE corresponding to the central contact portion 57BC and the rear contact portion 57BE of the contact portion 57B according to the first embodiment. The central contact portion 357BC and the rear contact portion 357BE are each inclined in the same manner as the left side surface of the blade 357A. Hereinafter, the left side surface of the contact portion 357B is also referred to as a contact portion side inclined surface.

With such a configuration, when the coin CN is conveyed from the front by the pin belt 44 (FIG. 2, etc.), the coin recognition unit 323 performs the same operation as shown in FIGS. 10A to 10D in the first embodiment. Then, the coin CN contacts the blade biasing portion 357, and the coin CN contacts the reference surface 342S while the blade 357A rotates.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 24 corresponding to FIG. 23 , the coin recognizing unit 323 causes the left upper end portion of the coin CN to abut against the reference surface 342S, and moves the coin CN downward from the reference surface 342S. A directing force F342 is applied. The coin recognizing portion 323 contacts the contact portion 357B at the upper end portion on the right side of the coin CN, and applies a force F357 toward the lower left direction from the contact portion 357B to the coin CN. That is, the coin CN is urged leftward and pressed downward.

Subsequently, when the coin CN is conveyed rearward by the pin belt 44 (FIG. 2, etc.), the coin recognition unit 323 detects part of the coin CN as in the case shown in FIG. 11 in the first embodiment. It abuts near the front end of the brush biasing portion 58 .

At this time, as shown in FIG. 25 corresponding to FIGS. 23 and 24, the coin recognizing unit 323 receives a force from the hair body portion 58B of the brush urging unit 58 toward the vicinity of the right upper end of the coin CN in a left front and downward direction. to act. Further, the coin recognition unit 323 continues to apply a force F342 in the lower right direction from the reference surface 342S to the vicinity of the left upper end of the coin CN. That is, the coin CN continues to be pushed leftward and pressed downward.

In this manner, the coin recognizing unit 323 causes the coin CN to come into contact with the reference surface 342S in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and in addition, applies downward force to the coin CN from both the left and right sides. be able to. As a result, the coin recognition unit 323 can satisfactorily detect the information of the coin CN by each sensor of the magnetic information acquisition unit 55 in a state in which the coin CN is pressed against the guide surface 41S and its posture is stabilized. The recognition control unit 50 can accurately recognize the denomination, authenticity, etc. of the coin CN.

In other points as well, the coin depositing/dispensing section 312 according to the second embodiment can achieve the same effects as the coin depositing/dispensing section 12 according to the first embodiment.

According to the above configuration, when a coin CN is conveyed by the pin belt 44, the coin recognizing unit 323 of the coin depositing/dispensing unit 312 according to the second embodiment moves the coin CN downward and to the left by the blade biasing unit 357. to contact the reference surface 342S and downwardly. In addition, the coin recognizing portion 323 causes the coin CN to apply a force in the left front and downward direction by bending the hair body portion 58B of the brush urging portion 58, and the coin CN hits the reference surface 342S and the guide surface 41S. While maintaining the contact state, it is advanced backward, and information is detected by each sensor of the magnetic information acquisition section 55 . As a result, the coin recognition unit 323 can accurately determine the surface material, overall material, and outer diameter of the coin CN from the obtained information, and can recognize the denomination, authenticity, etc. of the coin CN with high accuracy.

[3. Other embodiments]
In the first embodiment described above, the blade urging portion 57 is arranged on the front side (upstream side) of the coin recognition portion 23 (FIG. 7, etc.), and the brush urging portion 58 is arranged on the rear side (downstream side). The case of arranging is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. 58 may be arranged on the upstream side and the blade biasing portion 57 may be arranged on the downstream side. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Further, in the above-described first embodiment, in the brush urging portion 58, the vicinity of the upper end of the bristles forming the bristle portion 58B is embedded and held inside the holding portion 58A. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various configurations such as fixing the upper end of each hair body constituting the hair body portion 58B to the lower surface of the holding portion 58A, for example, may be employed. In short, by fixing the vicinity of the upper end of each hair in the hair body portion 58B to the holding portion 58A by the holding portion 58A, when an external force is applied to the lower end portion of the hair body portion 58B, the hair body portion 58B will not move. It should be possible to bend it. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the case where the bristle portion 58B of the brush biasing portion 58 is configured by bundling a plurality of bristle members has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. may be set as the hair body portion 58B. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the case where the distance between the lower end of the hair body portion 58B of the brush biasing portion 58 and the guide surface 41S is set to 1/3 or less of the thickness of the minimum thickness coin has been described. . However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the interval may be at least less than the thickness of the minimum thickness coin. In short, it suffices that the lower end of the hair body portion 58B abuts on the coin and bends, so that a force directed in the left front and downward direction is applied to the coin CN. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the case where the brush biasing portion 58 is formed in a straight line along the front-rear direction has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, like a coin recognition unit 423 shown in FIG. You may set it so that it may become. Also, for example, like a coin recognition portion 523 shown in FIG. 26B, a brush biasing portion 558 formed in a triangular wave shape when viewed from above may be provided. Alternatively, like a coin recognition portion 623 shown in FIG. 26(C), a brush urging portion 658 formed in a wavy (sinusoidal) shape when viewed from above may be provided. Furthermore, like a coin recognition portion 723 shown in FIG. 26(D), a brush biasing portion 758 formed in an arc shape when viewed from above may be provided. 26(E), the brush urging portions 858 configured to be relatively short in the front-rear direction may be arranged at a plurality of discrete locations in the front-rear direction. Like the coin recognizing portion 923 shown in (F), brush biasing portions 958 configured to be relatively short in the front-rear direction may be arranged at a plurality of discrete locations in the front-rear direction and in the left-right direction. Furthermore, in the coin recognition unit 423 (FIG. 26(A)) and the coin recognition unit 923 (FIG. 26(F)), the hair rigidity is increased as it approaches the right side, and the hair rigidity is increased according to the position in the left-right direction. The rigidity (flexibility) of the portion 58B may be varied. 26(A) to (E), the brush biasing portion 58 may be formed in a substantially linear shape extending along the conveying direction (that is, the front-rear direction), 2, they can be formed in a state in which they are arranged discretely at a plurality of locations on a plane parallel to the guide surface 41S. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the case where the thin plate-like restricting portion 58C is provided in the brush biasing portion 58 has been described (FIG. 8). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a restricting portion having various shapes such as a frame shape corresponding to only the outer peripheral portion of the restricting portion 58C may be provided. Alternatively, for example, when the vicinity of the lower end of the hair body portion 58B bends leftward very rarely, the restricting portion 58C may be omitted. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, by rotating the blade 57A of the blade biasing portion 57 about the shaft 57X, the distance between the contact portion 57B and the reference surface 42S is expanded or reduced. mentioned the case. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the blade 57A is configured to be able to move in parallel with the guide portion 41 and the right restricting portion 42R in the horizontal direction. and the reference surface 42S may be enlarged or reduced. Alternatively, for example, the blade 57A is formed of a material having flexibility, the vicinity of the front end is fixed to the guide portion 41 or the right restricting portion 42R, and the blade 57A is bent (bent) so that the contact portion 57B and the contact portion 57B You may make it expand or shrink the space|interval with the reference surface 42S. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the case where the blade 57A in the blade urging portion 57 of the coin recognition portion 23 (FIG. 7, etc.) is shaped like a polyhedron has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, by drilling a plurality of holes vertically penetrating while leaving a portion that forms the outer shape of the blade 57A and a portion that secures strength, so-called lightening is performed. You can try to make it better. As a result, the blade 57A can be rotated at a higher speed, so that even when the coin transport speed is increased, the movement of the coin can be well followed, that is, the blade 57A can be kept in contact with the reference surface 42S. becomes possible. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the case where the magnetic information acquisition unit 55 is provided with three sets of sensors, the lower material sensor 55A, the overall material sensor 55B, and the outer diameter sensor 55C, has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various sensors that detect information from the coin CN using magnetism may be provided, and the number of sensors may be two or less or four or more. In these cases, it is desirable to dispose the upper right sensor frame 53 outside the movable range of the blade 57A in the blade urging portion 57. FIG. Further, various sensors for detecting information representing various physical quantities such as light and electromagnetic waves from the coin CN may be arranged without being limited to sensors using magnetism. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the case where the optical information acquisition unit 54 is provided in the coin recognition unit 23 (FIGS. 7 and 8) and the image data of the bottom surface of the coin is generated has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the optical information acquisition section 54 may be omitted. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the case where the pin belt 44 having the plurality of pins 46 provided on the belt 45 is arranged above the conveying space 31S has been described (FIGS. 2 and 3). However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a groove is formed in the center of the guide portion 41 of the conveying guide portion 31 in the left-right direction, the belt 45 of the pin belt 44 is arranged inside the groove, and the upper end of the pin 46 is placed on the guide surface 41S. , and the pin belt 44 may be caused to run under the conveying space 31S to convey coins. In this case, various sensors may be arranged at locations where the pin belt 44 does not interfere with the coin recognition section 23 . The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the pin belt 44 provided with a plurality of pins 46 on the belt 45 is caused to run along the conveying direction, so that the pins 46 contact the coins and the coins are conveyed in the conveying direction. A case has been described (FIGS. 2 and 3). However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, like the conveyor belt portion 1032 shown in FIGS. The coin CN may be conveyed in the conveying direction with the protrusion 1046 in contact with the coin CN. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the above-described first embodiment, the change machine 3 is provided with the banknote pay-in/pay-out unit 11 and the coin pay-in/pay-out unit 12 to handle both banknotes and coins. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the bill receiving/dispensing unit 11 may be omitted from the change machine 3 and only coins may be handled. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment described above, the case where the present invention is applied to the coin recognition section 23 provided in the coin depositing/dispensing section 12 of the change dispenser 3 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to various electronic devices such as automated teller machines (ATMs), automatic vending machines, and payment machines that perform coin deposit processing. The same applies to the second embodiment.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and other embodiments. In other words, the scope of the present invention extends to embodiments obtained by arbitrarily combining part or all of each of the above-described embodiments and other embodiments described above, and to embodiments in which a part is extracted. is.

Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the transport guide portion 31 as a transport guide, the magnetic information acquisition portion 55 as a sensor, the blade urging portion 57 as a first urging portion, and the A case has been described above in which the brush urging portion 58 constitutes the coin recognition portion 23 as a coin recognition device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the coin identification device may be configured by a conveyance guide, a sensor, a first urging section, and a second urging section having various configurations.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used, for example, in a coin recognition section of a coin receiving/dispensing section incorporated in a change machine of a cash register change system.

Reference Signs List 1, 301... cash register change system, 3, 303... change machine, 12, 312... coin receiving/dispensing unit, 16... coin receiving port, 20... coin control unit, 22... conveying unit, 23, 323 Coin recognition unit 31 Conveyance guide unit 31A Recognition conveyance guide unit 31B Distributed conveyance guide unit 31S, 331S Conveyance space 32 Conveyor belt unit 41 Guide unit , 41S, 51S... Guide surface, 42B, 342B... Reference contact plate, 42L, 342L... Left regulation part, 42R... Right regulation part, 42S, 342S... Reference surface, 44... Pin belt, 45... Belt 46 Pin 50 Recognition control unit 51 Lower sensor frame 52 Upper left sensor frame 53 Upper right sensor frame 54 Optical information acquisition unit 55 Magnetic information acquisition 55A Lower material sensor 55B Entire material sensor 55C Outer diameter sensor 57, 357 Blade biasing portion 57A, 357A Blade 57B, 357B Contact portion 57BC, 357BC Central contact portion 57BE, 357BE Rear contact portion 57D Spring 58 Brush urging portion 58A Holding portion 58B Bristle portion 58C Regulation Part, 123... virtual first coin recognition part, 223... virtual second coin recognition part, CN... coin, OBJ... foreign matter.

Claims (16)

A guide surface that forms a conveying path along which coins are conveyed along the conveying direction and guides the coins, and a reference surface that regulates the range of movement of the coins in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction on the guide surface. a transport guide having
a sensor that detects information on the coin;
a first biasing portion that biases the coin in the width direction toward the reference plane;
a second urging section provided downstream or upstream of the first urging section with respect to the conveying direction and urging the coin toward at least the reference surface; . The second urging portion is
a flexible member having flexibility between one end and the other end;
a holding portion that holds the other end of the flexible member located far from the guide surface,
2. The coin identification device according to claim 1, wherein the distance between said one end of said flexible member and said guide surface is smaller than the thickness of a coin having the smallest thickness among said coins. When the one end side of the flexible member comes into contact with the coin conveyed in the conveying path, the second biasing portion bends in a direction including a direction component moving away from the reference surface and pushes the coin away from the reference plane. The coin identification device according to claim 2, wherein the device is biased toward at least the reference plane. The second urging portion is
4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a restricting portion provided on the reference surface side of the flexible member and restricting the bending of the one end side of the flexible member toward the reference surface side. coin identifier. 3. The coin identification device according to claim 2, wherein the flexible member is formed by bundling a plurality of linear hairs. The coin identification device according to claim 2, wherein the second biasing portion is formed in a substantially linear shape extending along the conveying direction. The coin identification device according to claim 1, wherein the second biasing portion biases the coin toward the reference surface and the guide surface. The first biasing part has a contact part that contacts the coin, and can change the distance between the contact part and the reference plane by moving closer to or away from the reference plane. 2. A coin identification device according to claim 1. 9. The contact portion of the first biasing portion has a contact portion side inclined surface that inclines so as to approach the reference surface side as it separates from the guide surface. coin identifier. 9. The coin identification according to claim 8, wherein the reference surface has a reference surface side inclined surface that inclines so as to approach the contact portion of the first biasing portion as it separates from the guide surface. Device. The conveying guide has a length in the width direction on the guide surface that is larger than the diameter of the largest coin having the largest diameter among the coins,
The second urging portion is arranged at a position where the distance from the reference plane in the width direction is larger than the radius of the maximum diameter coin in contact with the reference plane. The coin identification device according to claim 1. a conveying action unit that travels along the conveying direction and applies a force in the conveying direction to the coin,
The coin identification device according to claim 1, wherein the second urging portion is arranged on the opposite side of the reference plane across a portion where the conveying portion travels. The sensor includes an outer diameter sensor that detects the outer diameter of the coin,
The coin identification device according to claim 1, wherein an upstream end portion of the second biasing portion in the conveying direction is located upstream of a position where the outer diameter sensor is provided. . The sensor includes an optical sensor that captures an image of the coin,
The coin identification device according to claim 13, wherein the optical sensor is arranged upstream of a position where the coin is urged against the reference plane by the first urging section. further comprising a conveyance facing portion disposed at a location facing the guide surface across the conveyance path;
The sensors are provided at a plurality of locations along the transport direction, and at least a portion of the sensors is provided at the transport facing portion,
the first biasing portion biases the coin toward at least the reference surface outside a range sandwiched between the guide surface and the conveyance facing portion;
The coin identification device according to claim 1, wherein the second biasing portion is provided in the conveyance facing portion. A money handling device having a coin deposit slot into which coins are deposited and a coin identification device for identifying the coin,
The coin identification device is
A guide surface that forms a conveying path along which the coin is conveyed along the conveying direction and guides the coin, and a reference surface that regulates the movement range of the coin in the width direction perpendicular to the conveying direction on the guide surface. a transport guide having
a sensor that detects information on the coin;
a first biasing portion that biases the coin in the width direction toward the reference plane;
a second urging section provided downstream or upstream of the first urging section with respect to the conveying direction and urging the coin toward at least the reference surface; .

Images