JP2596524Y2 - Coin processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

INVENTION The present invention relates to a hard貨処mile system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional example of a coin processing apparatus will be described. FIG. 7 shows an example of a mechanism of a coin wrapping device, which is a coin processing device that performs a coin wrapping process introduced in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-123803, and coins that are fed out one by one in order to stack coins. Feeding unit 1, Stacking unit 2 for stacking coins fed one by one from coin feeding unit 1, Packing unit 3 for receiving and packing Stacked coins stacked by Stacking unit 2, Packaging The sorting unit 4 for sorting the coins and the loose coins created by the unit 3 is provided.

[0003] The coin dispensing section 1 comprises a rotating disk 11 for receiving coins to be packed and dispensing them one by one.
And a coin passage 12 for transporting coins fed out one by one from the stacking unit 2 to the stacking unit 2. The rotating disk 11 is driven to rotate by a motor 13, and the rotating disk 11
The upper coin is rotated and moved toward the guide wall 14 around the rotating disk 11 by centrifugal force due to rotation, and passes under the thickness regulating portion 15 provided in a part of the guide wall 14 to the coin passage 12. Pay out one by one.

The coin passages 12 are provided with passage side plates 17 for guiding the conveyance of coins on both sides of the upper surface of a passage bottom plate 16 as a reference surface. The fed coins are received between the passage side plates 17, and are conveyed by a conveyance belt 19 stretched over the passage and rotated by a motor 18. The coin passage 12
At the end of the roller 20, a roller 20 for holding a coin fed from the coin passage 12 between the coin conveyor 12 and the conveyor belt 19 and transferring the coin to the stacking unit 2 is provided.
(Not shown) is provided rotatably.

[0005] The coin passage 12 is provided with the coin passage 1.
A coin detecting means 21 for detecting a coin being conveyed is provided. The coin detecting means 21 is provided with a counting sensor 22 slightly before the end of the coin passage 12 and at the end of the coin passage 12. A sensor 23 is provided, and a stopper 25 is provided between the two sensors 22 and 23 which is driven forward and backward by a solenoid 24 into the passage. When the counting sensor 22 detects the coin of the wrapping unit number (for example, the 50th coin), the stopper 25 retracted outside the passage enters the passage, and the next coin of the wrapping unit number (the 51st coin) ) Is stopped, and the number of coins actually fed from the coin passage 12 to the stacking unit 2 is detected by the confirmation sensor 22.

The stacking unit 2 has a belt cylinder 31 as a support device for supporting the lower surface of the coins. The belt cylinder 31 has a pair of belts 33 having coin support protrusions 32 at surface symmetric positions rotatably stretched between upper and lower rollers 34 with their surfaces facing each other. The facing surfaces of the belt 33 are synchronously rotated in the same direction. Further, guide plates 36 and 37 are provided on the side surface of the belt cylinder 31 on the coin passage 12 side and the side surface on the opposite side.
(Not shown), and a belt cylinder 3
A shutter 38 that can be opened by driving a solenoid or the like is disposed at the bottom of the shutter 1. In this belt cylinder 31, coins fed from the end of the coin passage 12 are placed between the coin support projections 32 of both belts 33, and each time one coin is loaded, the pulse motor 35 is driven by a predetermined pulse to drive both belts 33. Lowering the coin support position of the coin support projection 32 of
Stacked coins are stacked between the two belts 33.

An operating member 3 is provided above the belt cylinder 31.
9 are provided. The operating member 39 is provided in the coin passage 1.
While being arranged along the same direction as the direction of the second passage,
A pivot 40 is pivotally supported on a support shaft 40 at one end of the coin passage 12, and a roller 41 serving as a coin contact portion is rotatably mounted at one end facing the upper side of the belt cylinder 31. Is formed with a rectangular window hole (not shown) which is fitted to the outside of a swing regulating shaft (not shown) to regulate the swing amount, and the roller 41 at one end swings downward. A spring (not shown) is provided to urge the spring. The lower surface of the roller 41 is located slightly below the passage bottom plate 16 of the coin passage 12 and the upper surface of the roller 20. When the roller 41 comes into contact with the coin guided from the coin passage 12 to the belt cylinder 31 and is pushed up,
When the upper surface of the stacked coins in the belt cylinder 31 is at a position higher than a predetermined position and comes into contact with the coin, the operating member 39 swings against a spring (not shown), and a detection attached to the other end of the operating member 39 is performed. When the plate 45 is detected by the operation member detecting means 46, the swing of the operation member 39 is detected.

The wrapping portion 3 has a guide rod 51. When the guide rod 51 is located below the shutter 38 of the belt cylinder 31, the stack 38 is opened and ejected coins are discharged. Receiving on guide rod 51, guide rod 5 as it is
1 descends to guide the coins between the plurality of wrapping rollers 52. The wrapping roller 52 holds the stacked coins guided by the guide rod 51 and is rotated by the drive of the motor 53 to rotate the overlapped coins, and feeds the wrapping paper between the wrapping roller 52 and the stacked coins. The wrapping paper 55 supplied from the device 54 is wound around the coin. Further, the upper and lower edges of the wrapping paper wound around the peripheral surface of the stacked coin by the wrapping roller 52 are wound around the end surface of the stacked coin by a pair of upper and lower winding hooks 56a and 56b, thereby forming a bar-shaped bar.

The winding hooks 56a and 56b are respectively attached to one ends of the lifting levers 57a and 57b, and each of the lifting shafts 58a and 58b to which the other ends of the lifting levers 57a and 57b are mounted is a driving mechanism (not shown). , Respectively, so that the coins can be moved toward and away from each end face of the stacked coin.

The wrapping section 3 is provided with a stack length measuring means 59 for measuring the stack length of the stack coins. The stacking length measuring means 59 attaches a vertically long support member 60 to the upper elevating lever 57a so as not to interfere with the lower elevating lever 57b. A timing belt 63 is stretched between the pulleys 61 and 62 so as to be rotatable, and the timing belt 63 is connected to a lower elevating lever 57 b by a connecting tool 64.
The rotary encoder 65 is connected to the rotation shaft of the.
The timing belt 63 is rotated by the relative movement of the upper and lower lifting levers 57a and 57b,
This is detected by the rotary encoder 65. The stack length of the stack coins is measured by the output of the rotary encoder 65, and is written into the measured stack height storage area of the memory of the control unit (not shown).

The width of the coin passage 12, the width of the belt cylinder 31, the interval between the plurality of wrapping rollers 52, and the like are adjusted for each denomination.

The distribution unit 4 is provided with a packaging roller 5 of the packaging unit 3.
A chute 71 is arranged below the space between the two, and receives the bar bars wrapped and released by the wrapping unit 3 in a vertical position, converted into a horizontal position, and discharged from a lower discharge port 72. A chute 73 is provided in the middle of the chute 71 and a shutter 74 for switching the path is provided. Usually, the shutter 74 is in the chute 71 and the stacking section 2 or the packaging The coins that are broken down by the insemination in the part 3, the fractions that do not reach the number of packaging units, or coins that are discriminated as inferior insemination and released are guided to the chute 73.
When the coin bar is released, the shutter 74 is retracted from the chute 71. Further, a pair of chutes 73a and 73b are provided at the lower end of the chute 73 and a shutter 75 for switching a passage is provided.
It can be selectively stored in storage boxes 76 and 77 arranged below 73b.

By the way, coins are used for a long period of time. Coins are worn as they flow for a long time, and generally wear in the thickness direction is greater than the amount of wear in the radial direction. In a coin wrapping machine that stacks a predetermined number of such coins, for example, 50 coins in Japan and wraps the coin by wrapping the coin, when stacking coins, the coins are stacked due to a stacking mistake. In order to detect this, for example, as described above, the amount of movement of the wrapping paper wound between The height is being measured.

[0014]

[Problems to be solved by the present invention] However, when only 50 worn coins are normally piled, the pile height is
It may be equal to or less than the pile height when the number of unworn coins is 49. In such a case, the coins cannot be distinguished from each other, and the coins are rejected as coins less than the standard pile height. For this reason,
When a lot of worn coins are included, there is a problem that the coins cannot be practically packed.

[0015]

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a coin processing apparatus capable of accurately determining an abnormal stacking condition regardless of the degree of coin wear.

[0017]

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, a coin processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of each coin passing through a coin passage, and a stack of coins passing therethrough. stacking means and a stacking height calculating means for determining by integrating the detection output of thickness detecting means intussusception height coin stacking and predetermined number of sheets by stacking means, a predetermined number of sheets are heavy product by intussusception and height measuring means, the stacking height and the stacking height calculation means which is measured by stacking height measuring means for determining the stacking height of the coins by measuring the distance between both ends of the stacking coins And a stacking height comparison means for comparing the stacking height calculated with the above.

[0019]

[0020]

In an apparatus for stacking coins, such as a coin wrapping apparatus, the actual accumulated value of the individual thickness of the stacked coins,
By comparing the dimension of the stacking coins across both ends, it is possible to make improved stacking error determination accuracy when worn coins is mixed number.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the focus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the drawing, a coin moves in a transport direction on a coin path along a reference plane. The coin is usually disc-shaped and has two circular main surfaces including a pattern portion and an edge portion. A distance sensor 101 that measures the distance of the coin from the main surface, for example, a magnetic sensor that can measure the distance due to a change in magnetism due to the approach of the coin is arranged near the coin passage. The distance sensor 101 can also be used for counting the passing coins and detecting the degree of wear by configuring the counting sensor 22 shown in FIG. 7 by a magnetic sensor, for example.
When the money is moved on the coin passage from left to right, a trapezoidal output waveform as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained in the output of the distance sensor 101 at this time. It was found that the amplitude of this waveform was related to the thickness of the edge portion of the coin. That is, when the thickness of the edge portion is small, the sensor output increases, and when the thickness of the edge portion is large, the sensor output decreases. The reason for this is that the edge portion of the coin generally wears faster than the pattern portion. It is considered that when the edge portion of the coin is worn, the surface of the pattern portion of the coin is closer to the reference surface of the coin passage and closer to the distance sensor. By the way,
If the distance between the coin surface and the magnetic sensor differs by 0.1 mm,
The output voltages of the sensors differed by about 0.2 volts. Therefore, the correspondence between the thickness of the money and the sensor output is prepared in advance for each money denomination. For example, by specifying the denomination u and the sensor output v as arguments of the table function g, the thickness y of money can be obtained by y = g (u, v). When coins are stacked, the coins overlap at the edge of the coin, so if the degree of wear in the thickness direction of the edge is known, the current thickness of the measured coin,
It is possible to obtain an estimated value of the stack height when a predetermined number of coins are stacked.

As another distance sensor, an optical distance sensor can be used. For example, paying attention to the phase difference (interference) between the light beam returning from the light source via the known reference optical path length and the light beam reflected from the same light source on the measurement surface of the coin, the known reference optical path length is adjusted, and the phase difference is adjusted. It is possible to obtain the position of the measurement surface of the coin from the value of the reference optical path length when the condition is solved. Further, it is also possible to use a distance sensor to which a so-called focus adjustment mechanism is applied, which irradiates a laser beam spot on a measurement surface of a coin so that a reflected beam is maintained in a predetermined shape.

The detection of such worn coins can be performed by the configuration shown in FIG. In the figure, the distance sensor 1
01 generates a trapezoidal waveform voltage output as the coin moves on the reference plane of the coin path. This voltage output can be passed through an appropriate filter as required, and it is possible to suppress the influence of noise on the output waveform due to, for example, mechanical vibration to some extent. The amplitude v of the voltage output at a predetermined time is sampled by the peak hold circuit 102. The wear discriminating circuit 103 is provided with a number of level comparators set for each denomination u.
The (u, v) determination table is realized. The wear determination circuit 103 outputs a wear value y corresponding to the denomination u. For example, in a coin wrapping apparatus, coins are pre-classified for each denomination, so that if a wear determination is performed in the passage of the classified coins, the denomination u of the supplied coin can be known in advance.

Further, a plurality of sample and hold circuits can be used. For example, the peak hold circuit 102 is used for sampling an amplitude value of a portion corresponding to an edge portion of a coin in FIG. 5 described later, and the sample hold circuit 102a is used for sampling an amplitude value of a waveform portion corresponding to a coin pattern portion. Can be. Further, a plurality of sample-and-hold circuits 102a to 102n (not shown) in the pattern portion
To obtain the average value of the amplitude in the pattern portion, and this average value can be used as the voltage output v.

The degree of wear of the coin can also be estimated by examining the thickness difference t between the edge portion and the pattern portion of the coin as shown in FIG. The approximate wear amount Δ of the edge portion is obtained by Δ = (T−t), where T is a regular step difference between the edge portion and the pattern portion. If the amount of wear Δ on one side is known, the current thickness Dc of the coin is set as Dc = (D−2Δ) from the size of the currency standardized for each type of currency, for example, the thickness D of the regular edge. Can be estimated.

FIG. 4 shows an apparatus 2 for detecting such wear.
The voltage output from the distance sensor 101 is sampled by the A / D converter 201 as shown in FIG.
In a predetermined area of the RAM 202, a coin denomination u to be supplied is provided.
Is stored. As the distance sensor 101, a sensor having relatively high resolution is used in order to be able to detect an edge portion of a coin. The stored waveform data of the voltage output is
Processed by The CPU 203 executes data processing to be described later according to the control program written in the ROM 204, and outputs a wear value. The function of the apparatus 200 can be realized as a part of a control program in the MPU of the coin wrapping apparatus. In such a case, an error display output and a reject command of the wrapped coin are also output.

Next, the procedure by which the CPU 203 determines the wear of coins will be described. FIG. 6A shows such a procedure. When coin data has been completely taken into the RAM 202, a predetermined flag is set and the CPU 203
Executes this subroutine. This subroutine may be performed each time coin data is captured or when data of a fixed number, for example, 50 coins, is captured.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, the edge of each coin generally protrudes from the pattern, and the distance sensor 10
From 1 is output in a certain range of waveform shape. If the type of the coin is known in advance, the edge region and the pattern region of the measurement pattern can be distinguished by referring to an accurate basic pattern corresponding to each coin. A peak value is extracted in this edge region to obtain an edge voltage (step S1).
0). The average value of the data in the pattern area is obtained to obtain the pattern voltage (step S12). The difference voltage t 'is obtained by subtracting the pattern voltage from the edge voltage, and the voltage t' is converted into a distance difference t by a function t = h (t '). Here, the conversion function h (t ') is obtained in advance by experimental data (step S14). As described above, the amount of wear Δ
Assuming that a normal step difference between the edge portion and the pattern portion is T, Δ = (T−t). T is R for each denomination u
It is stored in the table of the OM 204. This is read out and the calculation of Δ = (T−t) is performed to detect the amount of wear Δ. The amount of wear Δ is output to the outside if necessary (step S16).

The function as a single wear detecting device is realized by steps S10 to S16. However,
When the wear detecting device 200 is incorporated in the coin packaging device for the purpose of improving the accuracy in detecting a stacking error, the following steps are further executed.

The normal thickness D of the edge portion of the denomination u is read from the table of the ROM 204, and from this thickness D, Dc =
As (D-2Δ), the current estimated thickness Dc of the coin is calculated (step S18). The current estimated height Dc of one piece of money is integrated with the previous value (cumulative value of the estimated thickness Dc of the money up to the previous time) to calculate the current estimated height of the stacked money. The integrated value corresponding to the number of coins stacked is reset when used in a stacking error determination routine described later (step S20). Thereafter, control returns to the main control program. In this way, the wear detection device, when a coin passes through the coin transport path, for each of the passing coins,
At any time, the wear amount of the coin is measured. Further, the present invention provides an error discrimination reference value when integrating the thickness of the passing coins and stacking them by a predetermined number to make a wrapped coin.

FIG. 6B shows a procedure for determining a stacking error in the CPU of the money wrapping apparatus. When the money wrapping device incorporates the wear detection device 200 described above, it is possible to cause the CPU of the money wrapping device to execute the procedure shown in FIG.

First, during execution of the main control program, if a flag for performing a stacking error determination is set, this subroutine is executed. The CPU proceeds to step S20
Is read from a predetermined storage location and stored in one of the registers (step S32). The dimension between both ends of the stacked coin, which is measured by an electromechanical method such as the stack length measuring means 59 in FIG. 7, is read from another register (step S34). Compare the two, when the difference is within the range of the predetermined error, for example, when less than the thickness of one coin, it is determined that the integrated value of the predetermined number of coins and the dimensional value of the stacked coins, The main product error determination routine ends. On the other hand, if the calculated stack height does not match the measured dimension value between both ends of the stack coin, a stack error has occurred, and an error display output is generated to alert the user of the apparatus. I do. Further, the coins are collected in a predetermined container (step S38). When the determination process of the accumulation error is completed, the process returns to the main control program (not shown).

By using the integrated value of the thickness of each currency as the reference value for determining the status error, it is possible to prevent the status error caused by the difference in the degree of wear of the old and new currency.

[0034]

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, the coin processing of the present invention
According to the device, the actual thickness of each coin to be piled is estimated from the wear amount of each coin, the integrated value obtained by integrating the actual thickness of each coin by a predetermined number, and the predetermined number of piles since by comparing the actually measured dimension across the coins are determined error, correct the difference to the reference value of the coin and the measured dimension value to be a stacking coins majority wear coins number it is possible to avoid a situation where it is determined that an error occurred.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a basic concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing an example of an output waveform of a distance sensor with respect to a thickness of a coin.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a worn coin detection device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example in which the worn coin detection device is configured by a microprocessor.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an example of an output waveform of a distance sensor.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation of a CPU.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional coin wrapping device.

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G07D 5/00-5/10 B65B 35/50 G01B 21/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of each coin passing through a coin passage, a stacking means for stacking the passed coins, and a predetermined number of coins stacked by the stacking means. Stacking height calculating means for calculating the stacking height of the thickness detecting means by integrating the detection output of the thickness detecting means, the stacking height of the predetermined number of stacked coins is the distance between both ends of the stacking coin. Stack height measuring means for measuring and obtaining, Stack height comparison comparing the stack height measured by the stack height measuring means with the stack height calculated by the stack height calculating means. Means, and a coin processing device.