JP3141872B2 - Coin sorting equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin sorting apparatus for electrically discriminating inserted coins.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been a strong demand for a coin sorting apparatus capable of discriminating inserted coins more quickly, accepting the coins, and reliably sorting the coins.

[0003] A conventional coin sorting apparatus will be described below.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show an external view and a configuration diagram of a conventional coin sorting apparatus.
Is a coin inlet, 3 is a coin passage, and 4 and 5 are a first sensor and a second sensor for examining inserted coins. Reference numeral 6 denotes an identification unit that determines the authenticity and denomination of the inserted coin based on inputs from the first sensor 4 and the second sensor 5, and 7 denotes an identification unit 6.
A gate opening / closing section 9 for opening / closing the gate according to the identification result, and a control device 9 including an identification section 6 and a gate opening / closing section 7. Reference numeral 10 denotes a gate for sorting true and false coins.

[0005] The operation of the coin sorting apparatus configured as described above will be described below. The coins inserted from the coin inlet 2 approach the first sensor 4 and the second sensor 5 while rolling in the coin passage 3, and change the output of each of the coins by passing through. The discrimination unit 6 makes a determination based on the amount of change, and as a result, when it is determined that the coin is genuine, the gate opening / closing unit 7 controls the gate 1.
0 is opened for a certain period of time t, and the inserted coin is guided to the genuine coin passage and stored. When the discriminating unit 6 determines that the coin is a counterfeit coin, the gate opening / closing unit 7 keeps the gate 10 closed without opening it, guides the inserted coin to the return passage, and returns it.

[0006]

However, the above conventional configuration has the following problems.

During the predetermined time t, the input coin is
The value determined by the transit time from when the input coin is determined to be genuine to when it passes through the gate 10 so as not to be caught, and in general, the transit time varies depending on coins, and the transit time due to the inclination of the coin sorting device. It is necessary to accumulate a considerably large value due to the influence on the passing time due to the influence on the coin passage 3 and the contamination on the coin passage 3. However, if this value is set too large, coins inserted before the processing of the first input coin are originally too close to be identified because they are too close to each other, and coins to be returned to the return passage enter the true coin passage. It was very difficult to satisfy both at the same time and completely.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. The inserted genuine coin can be surely guided to the genuine coin path, and the coins to be returned can be surely guided to the return path if they are too close. It is an object to provide a coin sorting device.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a coin sorting apparatus according to the present invention comprises a coin inlet and first and second coin inlets provided upstream and downstream of a coin passage of coins flowing from the inlet. Sensor, the second sensor, and a gate provided downstream of the second sensor, a coin storage unit provided downstream of the gate, and input ports from the first and second sensors. And a control device for opening and closing the gate based on the
The control device includes an identification unit that identifies a genuine coin based on the input of the first and second sensors, a gate opening and closing unit that opens and closes a gate based on the identification result of the identification unit, and a gate that is opened by the gate opening and closing unit. In this state, the first sensor does not detect a subsequent coin in a state in which the opening time of the gate, which has been set in advance, is set to be long so as to reset the gate.

Accordingly, when there is no subsequent coin, the gate can be closed after the coin has passed through the gate without fail, and the coin does not bite.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides a coin inlet, a first sensor and a second sensor provided upstream and downstream of a coin passage of a coin flowing from the inlet.
Sensor, a gate provided downstream of the second sensor, a coin storage unit provided downstream of the gate, and the gate based on inputs from the first and second sensors. A control device for opening and closing, the control device,
An identification unit for identifying a genuine coin based on the input of the first and second sensors, a gate opening / closing unit for opening / closing a gate based on the identification result of the identification unit, and a state where the gate is opened by the gate opening / closing unit. , A time setting unit that resets the gate opening time that has been set in advance long by not detecting the subsequent coin by the first sensor. In a state where the coin is determined as a genuine coin by the identification unit and the gate is opened by the gate opening / closing unit, depending on when the first sensor detects the subsequent coin and when it does not detect the coin,
Since the opening time of the gate can be set to an optimum value, when there is no subsequent coin in a state where the gate is opened, the opening time of the gate is reset to be longer to ensure that the coin is opened. Since the gate can be closed after passing through the gate, no biting occurs. or,
When there is a subsequent coin, the gate can be closed before the subsequent coin reaches the gate, and the coin can be correctly guided to the return passage.

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

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a configuration and an external view of a coin sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, wherein 1 is a coin sorting device main body, 2 is a coin inlet, 3 is a coin passage,
Reference numerals 4 and 5 denote first and second sensors for examining inserted coins. Reference numeral 6 denotes an identification unit that determines the authenticity and denomination of a coin to be inserted based on inputs from the first sensor 4 and the second sensor 5. Reference numeral 7 denotes a gate opening / closing unit that opens / closes the gate 10 based on the result of the identification unit 6. Reference numeral 8 denotes an opening time of the gate 10 depending on whether the first sensor 4 detects a subsequent coin while the gate 10 is open. Time setting section for setting
Is a control device comprising an identification unit 6, a gate opening / closing unit 7 and a time setting unit 8. The gate 10 is used to sort out true and false coins.

The operation of the coin sorting device configured as described above will be described below.

A coin inserted from the coin inlet 2 approaches the first sensor 4 and the second sensor 5 while rolling in the coin passage 3, and changes the output of each of the coins by passing through. give. The amount of change is read by the identification unit 6, and if the amount of each change is within the area of a genuine coin, it is determined to be a genuine coin. Here, the method and means for discriminating coins will not be described in detail, but the amount of change in impedance of each sensor (there are many detection coils) due to the passage of coins is represented by:
A general method is to detect the change in the oscillation frequency or the oscillation level and determine whether the change is within a genuine coin area.

When the discriminating section 6 determines that the coin is genuine, the time setting section 8 sets the gate opening setting time t to t ₂ and simultaneously opens and closes the gate to guide the inserted coin into the genuine coin passage. The gate 10 is opened by the unit 7. Gate 1
During 0 to open the t ₂ time, the first sensor 4 performs detection of a subsequent coin, when it detects the trailing of the coin after t ₂ to open the gate 10, the gate 10 is closed. If, when the first sensor 4 detects the subsequent coins within the time t _2, the time setting unit 8 reconfigures the aperture setting time t of the gate to t ₂ ~t _1, by opening the gate 10 The gate 10 is closed after t ₁ from. Here, the value of the gate opening time t ₂ when there is a subsequent coin is a value set by the currency time from when the input coin is determined to be a genuine coin to when it passes through the gate 10, and the above-mentioned passage time by coins And the influence of the inclination of the coin sorting device on the passing time, the influence of the dirt on the coin passage on the passing time, and the like, are actually set to 120 msec.

Further, the value of the opening time t ₁ of the gate 10 when there is no succeeding currency is determined to be larger than the value of the set time t ₂ when there is a succeeding currency, and is actually set to 150 msec. It is.

When the discriminating section 6 determines that the coin is a counterfeit coin, the gate opening / closing section 7 keeps the gate 10 closed without opening it, guides the inserted coin to the return passage, and returns it.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the gate 10 is open, the opening time of the gate 10 is set depending on whether or not the first coin 4 detects a subsequent coin. By providing the time setting unit 8, the opening time of the gate 10 when there is no subsequent coin can be set with a margin longer than the setting time when there is a following coin, and after the coin has passed through the gate 10 without fail. Gate 1
Since 0 can be closed, no biting occurs.

A sensor is provided in the vicinity of the gate 10, and a certain time after the sensor detects a coin, the gate 1
Even if the coin sorter closes 0, the subsequent coins
It is considered that the above-mentioned fixed time can be set depending on whether or not the sensor 4 detects the above.

Others that can be easily devised from the present embodiment should be considered as application examples of the present invention.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a state where the gate is opened, the opening time of the gate is reset longer depending on whether or not the first coin detects a subsequent coin. By providing a time setting section, the gate opening time when there is no trailing currency and when there is a trailing currency can be set respectively to the optimal time, so close the gate with margin when there is no trailing currency It is possible to realize an excellent coin sorting device that can correctly lead to a true coin passage without encroaching, and that even when there is a subsequent coin, the succeeding coin can be surely guided to a return passage. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a main block diagram of a coin sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the present invention and a conventional coin sorting device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a main part of a conventional coin sorting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 inflow port 3 coin passage 4 first sensor 5 second sensor 6 identification section 7 gate opening / closing section 8 time setting section 9 control device 10 gate

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-56-88589 (JP, A) JP-A-59-208683 (JP, A) JP-A-61-170888 (JP, A) JP-A 59-88888 226991 (JP, A) JP-A-61-291366 (JP, A) JP-A-54-66595 (JP, U) JP-A-58-90465 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. ⁷ , DB name) G07D 3/00-3/16 G07F 1/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A coin inlet, first and second sensors provided upstream and downstream of a coin passage of a coin flowing from the inlet, and provided downstream of the second sensor. A gate, a coin storage unit provided downstream of the gate, and a control device that opens and closes the gate based on inputs from the first and second sensors. The control device includes: An identification unit for identifying a genuine coin based on the input of the first and second sensors, a gate opening / closing unit for opening / closing a gate based on an identification result of the identification unit, and a state where the gate is opened by the gate opening / closing unit. A time setting unit that resets the gate opening time that has been set in advance to be longer by not detecting the subsequent coin by the first sensor.