JP2902690B2 - Medal dispenser - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a medal dispensing machine that pays out coins and other medals to the outside, such as various game machines such as throttle machines, vending machines, currency exchange machines, and the like. It is.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-17925, a medal dispenser sequentially sends a group of medals stored in a medal container in a bulk state from a medal outlet of the container to a medal supply device. The device is configured to sequentially transfer the medal to an upper medal discharge port by a scraping action of a sprocket with a projection in the same device.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional medal dispensers including those disclosed in the above-mentioned publications, the medal groups in the containers are fed into the medal supply device without any restrictions, so that the medal supply amount to the medal supply device varies. Becomes larger.
For this reason, it is difficult to stably supply medals to the medal supply device, for example, the medal supply device side may be clogged with medals due to excessive feeding, or the medal exit may be blocked by medals and the medal may not be fed. As a result, the medal payout is not good (discontinuous payout or insufficient payout),
Alternatively, there has been a problem that it becomes impossible at all.

Therefore, the present invention provides a medal dispenser capable of stably feeding medals from a medal container to a medal supply device in appropriate amounts.

[Means for solving the problem]

The invention according to claim 1 is configured as follows.

(I) A medal container for sliding the stored medals on the bottom wall toward the medal exit, and a medal supply device for receiving medals from the medal exit of the medal container and transferring the medals upward.

(Ii) The medal supply device is provided with a rotating hopper ring, and the medal introduction portion slides on the bottom wall in the medal container and slides into the medal introduction portion of the hopper ring. The hopper ring is arranged so as to rotate upward while the medals are held on the hopper ring by a medal feeding member fixed to the hopper ring and arranged on an extension of a bottom wall in the medal container.

(Iii) At a position facing the medal exit in the medal container, the rotary stirring plate has a vertical posture intersecting the moving direction of the medal toward the medal exit, and between the medal container and the bottom wall in the medal container. A gap is provided so as to regulate the passing amount of the medals and to form the medals into the medal introduction portion of the hopper ring so that the medals are easily slid into a lateral posture.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, at least the outer peripheral portion of the rotary stirring plate is formed of an elastic material so as to be elastically deformable.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first or second aspect, a weir plate that regulates the flow of medals toward the rotary stir plate is provided at a position upstream of the rotary stir plate in the medal container in the medal movement direction. It is what is done.

[Action]

With this configuration, the passing amount of the medal group in the medal container is regulated by the gap before the medal exit, and the medal supply device (the hopper ring) ).

The medal group is stirred and fluidized by the stirring action of the rotary stirring plate.

By these two points of action, it is possible to prevent medal clogging in the gap portion and at the same time to smoothly supply the medal group from the medal exit to the medal supply device.

According to the configuration of claim 2, the outer peripheral portion of the rotary stirring plate is elastically deformed by contact with the medal and escapes from the medal, so that the medal clogging prevention effect in the gap portion is further ensured.

Furthermore, according to the configuration of claim 3, since the flow of medals can be regulated by the dam plate in front of the rotary stirring plate, the action of preventing medal clogging in a gap portion is promoted and the weight of all medals is concentrated on the stirring plate. Thus, the load on the stirring plate can be reduced, and the original stirring effect of the stirring plate can be secured.

〔Example〕

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

B is a bucket (medal container) in which a large number of medals M such as coins are stored in a bulk state, and the medals M in the bucket B slide on the bucket bottom wall 1 inclined forward and downward, and a medal exit. 2 to hopper (medal supply device) H
Supplied to

Further, in this embodiment, a medal lifter L is erected on the hopper H for a medal dispenser whose hopper H is installed at a position lower than the medal payout opening.
Is sent from the hopper H to the medal lifter L one by one and is transported upward.

The hopper H has a hopper ring 3 and this hopper ring 3
And a hopper-side medal feed member 4 made of an elastic material such as rubber fixed to the back side of the hopper.

The hopper ring 3 is rotatably supported by three outer peripheral rollers 5, 6, 7 as shown in FIG. 3 at a position facing the medal outlet 2, and is rotated by a motor 8 shown in FIG. It is driven to rotate in the direction.

In FIG. 5, reference numerals 9 and 10 denote gears for transmitting the rotational force of the motor 8 to the hopper ring 3. Further, a belt groove 3a is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the hopper ring 3 so that the gear transmission system can be converted to a belt conduction system as required. Further, one of the outer peripheral rollers 5, 6, and 7 is movably supported by an arm 11 so as to be able to come into contact with and separate from the hopper ring 3. The hopper ring 3 can be removed from between the outer peripheral rollers 5, 6, 7 while the hopper ring 5 is separated from the hopper ring 3. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 12 denotes a spring for pressing the movable outer peripheral roller 5 against the hopper ring 3 side.

The hopper ring 3 is disposed in a tilted state and an inner peripheral surface serving as a medal introduction portion is positioned on an extension of the bucket bottom wall 1.
... slides into the back side of the hopper side medal feeding member 4 through the inner peripheral surface of the hopper ring.

The hopper-side medal feeding member 4 has a lip 4a that is inclined and protrudes toward the outer periphery of the hopper on the back side of the hopper ring, and the medal M is fixed to the fixed frame 13 by the lip 4a.
The hopper ring 3 and the medal feeding member 4 are elastically pressed against the front of the hopper substrate 14 fixed to the front of the hopper.
Together with the arrow C in FIG.

A guide wall 15 for medal guide is provided on the hopper substrate 14 in a concentric arrangement with the hopper side medal feeding member 4 at an outer peripheral position with respect to the hopper side medal feeding member 4. Convex wall to prevent falling off
16 are provided.

The convex wall 16 may be provided on the entire circumference along the guide wall 15, or may be provided only on the lower part where medals are particularly likely to drop off as shown in FIG.

The hopper substrate 14 is provided with a circular hole 17, and the rotating disk 18 is fitted into the hole 17 so that the fixed frame 13 is
It is supported rotatably.

The rotating disk 18 is driven to rotate by the motor 19 shown in FIG. 1 in the same direction as the hopper ring 3 (the direction of the arrow D in FIGS. 3 and 4), and flows into the hopper ring 3 by the rotation of the rotating disk 18. The medals to be stirred are stirred. Due to this stirring action, a certain number of medals are dropped on the rear side of the hopper-side medal feeding member 4 while being fixedly aligned in a vertical position on the front surface of the substrate 14 and aligned. Thereby, the medal supply to the medal feeding member 4 is performed smoothly.

On the other hand, a lifter substrate 20 constituting the lifter L is integrally connected to the hopper substrate 14 upward.

On the front surface of the lifter substrate 20, a groove-shaped medal passage 21 through which medals pass is provided in a meandering manner over the entire vertical length, and a plurality of disk-shaped rotating bodies 22 are further provided on the front side of the medal passage 21. Are provided on the upper and lower straight lines and at each meandering curved point of the passage 21.

A gear 23 is fixed to the front surface of each of the rotating bodies 22 and a ring-shaped medal feeding member 24 is fixed to the outer periphery.
Of these rotators 22,..., The lowermost and intermediate rotators 22, 22 are respectively driven to rotate by motors 25, 26 shown in FIG. It is transmitted to the rotating body 22 ... Thus, each rotating body 22 ...
However, adjacent ones rotate in the opposite direction (medal transfer direction) in synchronization with each other.

When the medal transfer head of the lifter L is low, all the rotating bodies 22 may be driven by one motor, and when the lift is high, the number of motors may be increased.

Like the hopper-side medal feeding member 4, the medal feeding members 24 are lip portions projecting to the outer peripheral side toward the back side of the rotating body.
24a. The lips 24a... Move the medal M upward from below in the passage 21 while elastically pressing the medal M against the concave wall surface of the passage 21.

Here, the medal feeding members 24 are arranged so that those vertically adjacent to each other can simultaneously contact one medal M at portions facing each other, so that the medals M are sequentially transferred between the medal feeding members 24. It is transferred upward while being handed over.

The medal feed member 24 at the bottom is provided near the top of the hopper side medal feed member 4 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, where the transfer of the medal M from the hopper H to the lifter L is performed. Is being done.

In order to smoothly transfer the medals M, the guide wall 15 on the hopper H side and one side wall of the medal passage 21 are formed continuously at the transfer portion as shown in FIGS. At the entrance of the medal passage 21, a medal introduction unit 27 for guiding the medal M to the medal passage 21 is provided.

On the other hand, the upper end 21a of the medal passage 21 is inclined forward and downward as a medal discharge port, from which the medal M is discharged toward a not-shown medal payout port.

According to the lifter L, the medals M fed from the hopper H as described above are pressed upwardly from the bottom by elastically pressing the medals M into the medal passage 21 by a plurality of upper and lower medal feeding members 24 provided along the medal passage 21. In order to transfer while successively passing, the sprocket's medal scraping force as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-17925 is used as it is as the medal pushing force as compared with a conventionally known lifter, as follows. Has advantages.

(I) Can be used for medals of various sizes.

(II) Since the change in the thickness of the medal M can be absorbed in a wide range by the elastic deformation of the lip portion 24a of the medal feeding member 24,
Even for a deformed medal, the lip portion 24a can be securely transported in close contact with the medal while keeping its deformed shape.

(III) The medal transfer force does not depend on one place (sprocket) as in the past, but instead
Since the power is shared by 24 ..., it is possible to respond to a high lift without any support as long as the total power can be secured.

(IV) All the medals in the medal passage 21 can be discharged out of the lifter L by the feed members 24 regardless of the operation / stop of the hopper H. That is, unlike the conventional lifter in which medals always remain in the medal passage, the inside of the lifter L can be emptied, which is convenient at the time of settlement or the like.

(V) Since the medal passage 21 is provided in a meandering manner, and the rotating body 22 (medal feeding member 24) is provided at each meandering curved point, the moving direction of the medal M and the rotating direction of the medal feeding member 24 are different. The medals M coincide with each other, and the medals M are naturally transferred between the medal feeding members 24. For this reason, there is no possibility that medals may stay in the passage 21 or the like, and the medals M can be smoothly transferred.

Next, a configuration for stably feeding the medals M in the bucket B to the hopper H will be described.

In the bucket B, at a position facing the medal outlet 2, the rotary agitating plate 28 has a vertical posture substantially perpendicular to the moving direction of the medal M from the inside of the bucket B to the medal outlet 2, and It is rotatably provided with a gap C of an appropriate size (for example, the medal M passes only in the lying posture and cannot pass in the vertical posture).

The rotary stirring plate 28 is entirely formed of an elastic material such as rubber so as to be elastically deformable, and is rotationally driven by a motor 29 in the direction of arrow a in FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 30 denotes the rotary stirring plate 28.
Is the back plate to which is fixed, 31 is the rotation axis of this back plate 5, 32, 33, 34
Is a transmission gear for transmitting the driving force of the motor 29 to the rotary shaft 21.

In this configuration, the medal group in the bucket B includes a gap C between the rotary stirring plate 28 and the bottom wall 1 of the bucket,
The flow toward the medal outlet 2 is regulated by the stirring action by the rotation of 28.

(1) The medal M heading toward the medal exit 2 due to the gap C ...
At the same time, the posture of the medals M... Is easily adjusted to a horizontal position that is easy to slide and slips into the hopper ring.

(2) Due to the stirring action at the entrance of the gap C, the medal group actively flows at the entrance of the gap to prevent the medals from staying in the same part, and at the same time, the medals are positively placed in the gap C. Sent in.

Due to the synergistic effect of the two points, the medal group in the bucket B is smoothly supplied to the hopper H through the medal exit 2 by an appropriate amount.

Further, when the medal pressure is applied, the rotating agitating plate 28 is elastically deformed in a direction away from the medal, so that six medals are clogged under the rotating plate 28 and rotation (stirring action) is hindered. Therefore, the stirring action is assured.

If the entire surface of the rotary agitating plate 28 is exposed, there is a concern that the medal M will be wound up to a high position due to the frictional resistance of the surface, and the flow of the medal will worsen.
Therefore, the inner peripheral side of the surface of the rotary stirring plate 28 is covered with a slippery sheet 35. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 36 denotes an agitating plate support member for supporting the outer peripheral portion of the agitating plate 28 from the back side at the upper half.

Further, a weir plate 37 having a medal through hole 37a is provided in the bucket B at a position upstream of the rotary stirring plate 28 in the medal movement direction, and a front chamber B1 and a rotary stirring plate 28 are provided in the bucket B. It is provided in a state where it is partitioned off from the rear room B2.

The amount of medals flowing from the front chamber B1 to the rear chamber B2 is regulated by the weir plate 37, and the load on the rotary agitating plate 28 and the gap C is reduced. Work more easily.

In this way, the medals in the bucket B can be smoothly fed to the hopper H by an appropriate amount without excess or shortage.

Other Embodiments (a) As the lifter, a lifter having a configuration in which the lifter is moved up in the medal path by using a scraping force of a sprocket may be used.

Further, the present invention can be applied to a medal dispensing machine which discharges medals directly from the top of the hopper toward a medal payout port without using such a lifter.

(B) In the above embodiment, the rotary stirring plate 28 is formed entirely of an elastic material. However, since the elastic deformation is required mainly at the outer peripheral portion, the ring-shaped elastic member is attached to the outer periphery of the metal plate to rotate. A stirring plate may be configured.

Further, the rotary stirring plate 28 does not necessarily need to be provided in a vertical posture substantially perpendicular to the medal moving direction as in the above embodiment, but may be provided in a vertical posture intersecting the medal moving direction.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the rotary agitating plate is provided at a position facing the medal exit in the medal container in a state where a gap is formed between the medal container and the bottom wall in the medal container to regulate the amount of medal passing. This gap regulates the amount of medals going from the medal exit to the medal supply device, and stirs while maintaining a lateral position that makes it easy to slide into the medal introduction part of the hopper ring placed on the extension of the bottom wall inside the medal container. The plate is configured to stir and fluidize the medals at the entrance of the gap and actively send the medals into the gap, so that the medals in the medal container can be smoothly fed to the medal supply device by an appropriate amount. it can.

In other words, the problem that the medal supply device side causes clogging of the medal due to excessive feeding as in the related art, or that the medal exit is blocked by the medal and the medal cannot be fed can be solved. Stable feeding can be performed to the feeding device.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, at least the outer peripheral portion of the rotary stirring plate is formed of an elastic material so as to be elastically deformable, the outer peripheral portion of the stirring plate is elastically deformed by contact with the medal and escapes from the medal. The medal clogging prevention effect at the portion is further ensured.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since a dam plate for restricting the flow of medals toward the rotary stirring plate is provided in the medal container at a position upstream of the rotary stirring plate in the medal moving direction, the gap portion is provided. In addition to promoting the action of preventing clogging of the medals, the concentration of all medals on the stirring plate is avoided, the load on the stirring plate is reduced, and the original stirring effect of the stirring plate can be secured.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Fig. II-II line, Fig. 3 is III-III line, Fig. 4 is IV-IV line
5 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1. B: bucket (medal container), 1 ... bucket bottom wall,
2 ... Medal outlet, 28 ... Rotating stir plate, C ... Gap between the stir plate and the bottom wall of the bucket, 37 ... Weir plate.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G07D 1/00-1/08 A63F 7/02 352 A63F 9/00 512 A63F 5/04 516 B65G 47/14 102

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A medal dispensing machine characterized as follows. (I) A medal container for sliding the stored medals on the bottom wall toward the medal exit, and a medal supply device for receiving medals from the medal exit of the medal container and transferring the medals upward. (Ii) The medal supply device is provided with a rotating hopper ring, and the medal introduction portion slides on the bottom wall in the medal container and slides into the medal introduction portion of the hopper ring. It is arranged on the extension of the bottom wall in the medal container, and is configured to rotate upward with the hopper ring while holding the medal on the hopper ring by the medal feeding member fixed to the hopper ring. (Iii) At a position facing the medal exit in the medal container, the rotary stirring plate has a vertical posture intersecting the moving direction of the medal toward the medal exit, and between the medal container and the bottom wall in the medal container. A gap is provided so as to regulate the passing amount of medals and to form medals into the medal introduction portion of the hopper ring so that the medals are easily slid into a lateral posture. 2. The medal dispensing machine according to claim 1, wherein at least an outer peripheral portion of the rotary stirring plate is formed of an elastic material so as to be elastically deformable. 3. The medal dispensing machine according to claim 1, wherein a dam plate for restricting the flow of medals toward the rotary stirring plate is provided in the medal container at a position upstream of the rotary stirring plate in the medal movement direction. A medal dispenser characterized by being provided with.