JP3266435B2 - Input coin feeding device - 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 dispenser for use in vending machines, ticket vending machines, etc., for dispensing a plurality of coins to be inserted at a time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a coin dispensing apparatus for dispensing a plurality of coins to be inserted collectively one by one, generally, a coin dispensing apparatus generally includes:
2. Description of the Related Art A coin feeding device using a rotating disk is known. This coin dispensing device moves coins inserted on the rotating disk to the peripheral portion by centrifugal force caused by rotation of the rotating disk, and moves along the peripheral wall disposed around the rotating disk, thereby forming a peripheral wall. The coins are fed one by one into a coin passage extending tangentially from a part. However, in the case of a rotating disk utilizing centrifugal force, the disk becomes large and it may be difficult to store it in a limited space such as a vending machine.

A relatively small coin feeding device used in vending machines and the like is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-80789 or Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 55-15047.
The structure described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5 is known.

In this coin dispensing apparatus, a plurality of coins to be inserted at a time through a coin receiving port are received in a hopper or a cylinder, and a rotating body disposed on the bottom of the hopper or the cylinder is rotated. One coin, which is in contact with the bottom surface, is pushed out to a discharge port formed in a part of the bottom surface by the pushing portion of the rotating body, and the coin is dropped from the discharge port by its own weight, and is disposed below the hopper or the cylindrical body. The coins are sent to the coin processing unit.

[0005]

However, in the coin feeding device described in the above publication, a coin is sent out to a discharge port by a rotating body, and the coin is dropped by its own weight from the discharge port. Coins can be fed only downwards.For example, to send coins to a coin processing unit located behind or on the side of a hopper or cylindrical body, coins that have fallen downward from the discharge port are moved upward by a conveyor or the like. There is a problem that coins must be conveyed and coins cannot be fed to the rear or side of the hopper or cylinder.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has a small configuration, whereby a plurality of coins put together can be fed out one by one substantially horizontally, obliquely upward or obliquely downward. It is an object of the present invention to provide a coin feeding device.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin dispensing apparatus for supporting a coin receiving slot for receiving a plurality of coins, and a bottom surface and a peripheral surface of coins inserted from the receiving slot. A stacking storage section having a bottom portion and an upright wall for stacking and storing the stacking section, and a sending slit formed in a lower portion of the upstanding wall so as to allow one coin thickness to pass therethrough; Extrusion that is disposed at the left and right positions with respect to the slit and on the bottom portion and that receives the lowest coin stored in the stacking storage portion and that pushes out the coins received in the hollow portion one by one from the delivery slit. And a pair of coin extruding rotary members having a portion, and a gripping conveyer which is provided outside the delivery slit of the stacking storage portion and holds the coin pushed out from the delivery slit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coin dispensing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein an inclined portion is provided on a rear side in the rotation direction of the extruding portion of the coin extruding rotary body.

[0009]

In the coin feeding device according to the first aspect of the invention, a plurality of coins to be thrown in at once are stored in the stacking storage portion, and the lowest coin is received in the recessed portion of the pair of coin pushing rotary members. By the rotation of the pair of coin extruding rotary bodies, the extruding unit pushes the lowest coin out of the delivery slit of the stacking storage unit, and the coin pushed out from this delivery slit is held by the infeed carrier and conveyed. Take out one by one.

[0010] In the coin feeding device according to the second aspect, in addition to the operation of the coin feeding device according to the first aspect, the weight of the push-out portion is increased by the inclined portion of the coin push-out rotating body on the rear side in the rotation direction. The stacking coins fall out of the stacking storage section in a smooth falling posture, and stacking of coins stored in the stacking storage section in a stacked state is prevented.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The construction of one embodiment of the coin feeding device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The coin dispenser is used, for example, in a vending machine or a ticket vending machine, and accepts a plurality of coins to be collectively inserted into a coin insertion slot on the front of the machine, and identifies the coin in the machine. The coin is fed one by one to a coin passage of a coin processing device having a section and the like.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a coin feeding device, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the coin feeding device, 11 is a passage bottom plate, and one end of the passage bottom plate 11 in the coin feeding direction (arrow direction in the drawing). A part is connected to a coin passage of the coin processing device.

A coin stacking cylinder 12 is disposed above the passage bottom plate 11 on the side opposite to the coin feeding direction. This coin stacker
3 has a cylindrical standing wall 13 as shown also in FIG. 3, and a bottom portion formed by the standing wall 13 and the upper surface of the passage bottom plate 11.
14 and coins to be inserted at a time (note C
Is stored in the stacking storage section 15.

At the upper edge of the coin stacking cylinder 12 in the direction opposite to the coin feeding direction, a chute 16 for guiding a plurality of coins to be thrown at once through the coin slot into the coin stacking cylinder 12 is provided. It is formed to project obliquely. And this shoot part 16
A receiving port 17 for receiving a plurality of coins to be put in a lump is formed on the upper end of the front end.

A delivery slit 18 is formed below the standing wall 13 of the coin stacking cylinder 12 so that one coin thickness can pass in the coin feeding direction, and insertion slits 19 are formed on both sides of the delivery slit 18. Have been.

On both sides of the chute portion 16 of the coin stacking cylinder 12, a support arm 20 is mounted substantially parallel to the standing wall 13, and a lower portion of the support arm 20 is fixedly supported together with the passage bottom plate 11 and the like. It is rotatably supported by a shaft 21. The coin stacking cylinder 12 is set at the position shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 in a normal use state, and is rotated upward from the passage bottom plate 11 with the support shaft 21 as a fulcrum at the time of elimination of clogged coins and maintenance. The area is opened.

Above the stacking storage section 15 of the coin stacking cylinder 12,
A pressing member 22 for pressing the stacked coins against the bottom portion 14 is provided. The pressing member 22 has a shaft portion 23, a contact plate 24 for contacting coins is formed at a lower end of the shaft portion 23, and a stopper 25 formed at an upper end of the shaft portion 23 is provided with a damper portion.
Inserted at 26. The damper unit 26 has a case 27,
The upper end of the shaft portion 23 of the pressing member 22 is inserted into the case 27 and is prevented from coming off by a stopper 26. Above the stopper 25, a spring 28 for pressing the pressing member 22 downward is housed. Then, the damper unit 26 is moved up and down by a motor (not shown), and when the coins are received in the stacking unit 15, the damper unit 26 is raised and the pressing member 22 is retracted to the retracted position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. On the other hand, when coins are fed from the stacking storage section 15, the damper section 26 is lowered, and the pressing member 22 is moved to the pressing position shown by the solid line in FIG.

On the passage bottom plate 11, a pair of impellers 31 as coin rotating bodies are disposed in the respective slits 19 for insertion. The impeller 31 is rotatable about a rotation shaft 32 penetrating below the passage bottom plate 11, and has three extruded portions 33 around its periphery.
Are formed, and three arc-shaped concave portions 34 for receiving coins are formed between the extruded portions 33. The pair of impellers 31 is fixed at a position where the concave portion 34 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is located below the stacking storage portion 15, and each rotating shaft 32 is linked by a pulse motor (not shown). The stacking section 15 is rotated by the
33 is relatively rotated so as to move in the coin payout direction.

Each pushing portion 33 of the impeller 31 has a coin pushing edge portion 33a located on the side of the hollow portion 34 for pushing out coins, and a coin receiving surface portion 33b on which a stacked coin placed on the pushed coin is placed. ,
As shown in FIG. 4, an inclined portion 35 is formed in the coin receiving surface portion 33b in the rear side region in the rotation direction so as to be inclined downward from the coin receiving surface portion 33b.

FIG. 5 shows the height relationship between the impeller 31, the coin, and the delivery slit 18 from the upper surface of the passage bottom plate 11, wherein the height of the impeller 11 is h1, the height of the coin is h2, and the delivery slit is h. If the height of 18 is h3, there is a relationship of h1 <h2 <h3 <2h2.

A pair of rollers 41 and 42 are provided outside the delivery slit 18 of the coin stacking cylinder 12 as a gripper carrier for holding a coin pushed out from the delivery slit 18 and feeding the coin in the coin feeding direction. I have. The lower roller 41 has a drive shaft 43 fixed at the center, and is arranged at a predetermined height such that a part of the peripheral surface of the roller 41 projects onto the passage through an opening 44 formed in the passage bottom plate 11. . The upper roller 42 is supported on one end of an arm 46 which can swing about a fulcrum shaft 45.
When the arm 46 is urged in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 2 by a spring 48 rotatably supported by the arm 46 and connected to the other end of the arm 46, the peripheral surface of the roller 42 is Is pressed into contact with the peripheral surface. The drive shaft 43 of the lower roller 41 is driven to rotate clockwise in FIG. 2 by a motor (not shown) (a motor different from the motor of the impeller 31). The upper roller 42 is driven and rotated.

On both sides of the passage bottom plate 11 outside the delivery slit 18 of the coin stacking cylinder 12, a pair of passage side plates 49 for guiding both sides of coins fed in the coin feeding direction are provided.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When a plurality of coins are collectively inserted into a coin insertion slot of a vending machine or the like with the stacking direction being the vertical direction,
The coins are guided from the receiving port 17 through the chute portion 16 into the stacking portion 15 of the coin stacking cylinder 12 and stacked and stored. At this time, the pressing member 22 is retracted to the upper retreat position via the damper portion 26.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the stacked coin storage state of the inserted coins, each of the pair of impellers 31
The lowermost coin (C1 to be described later) of the stacked coins C is stacked and stored in a state of being placed on the bottom surface portion 14.

When the coin feeding operation is started, first, the pressing member 22 is moved to the pressing position via the damper portion 26, and the stacked coin C is pressed against the bottom portion 14 by the pressing member 22. At this time, since the height position at which the damper unit 26 is lowered is constant, the height relationship between the damper unit 26 and the pressing member 22 abutting on the coins C varies depending on the number of coins C. A spring 28 is built in the damper portion 26, and the spring 28 can cope with a change in the number of coins C, such that if the number of coins C is large, the spring 28 is greatly compressed, and if the number is small, the compression is small. .

Thereafter, the rollers 41 and 42 are driven to rotate, and the pair of impellers 31 are driven to rotate in conjunction with each other.

When the pair of impellers 31 starts to rotate, as shown in FIG. 7, the pushing portion 33 of each of the impellers 31 enters the stacking storage portion 15, and the coin pushing edge portion 33a becomes the stacking coin C. Among the coins C1, the coin C1 is moved in the coin feeding direction in cooperation with the coin pushing edges 33a of the pair of pushing parts 33. At this time, the stacked coins C placed on the lowest coin C1 also move in the coin payout direction, but the movement is restricted by contacting the standing wall 13.

As shown in FIG. 8, only the lowest coin C1 is pushed out from the delivery slit 18 to the outside of the stacking portion 15 and pushed between the rollers 41 and 42. The upper roller 42 rises in accordance with the thickness of the coin C1 to be pushed in, and the coin C1 is held between the upper and lower rollers 41, 42. Therefore, coins
As shown in FIG. 9, C1 is moved in the coin feeding direction by receiving the pushing force of the pair of impellers 31 and the conveying force of the rollers 41 and. When the lowermost coin C1 is pushed out by the pair of pushing parts 33, the stacked coins C are supported on the coin receiving surface parts 33b of the pair of pushing parts 33 and the coin C1.

The coin C1 to be moved is shown in FIGS.
As shown in the order, the coin C1 comes off the extrusion portion 33,
It is moved by the transport force of only 41 and 42.

When the coin C1 is fed out from the lower portion of the coin P by the conveying force of the rollers 41 and 42, the leading edge of the coin C in the coin feeding direction drops, and the force of the drop causes the coin P1 to pile. The center of gravity of the coin C moves to the leading edge side, and FIG.
As shown in (a), the coins C are brought forward with respect to the standing wall 13. Further, as the push-out portion 33 rotates, the center of gravity of the stacked coin C moves to the trailing edge side opposite to the coin feeding direction, and as shown in FIG. And take a posture to incline toward the trailing edge. At this time, since the stacked coin C takes a posture inclined toward the trailing edge after being brought forward, the front edge of the stacked coin C is kept in contact with the standing wall 13 and the stacked coin C is maintained. The stacking disorder of C can be prevented.

Then, as shown in FIG. 12, the coin C1 is
The coin is sent out from between the rollers 41 and 42 and fed to an identification unit of the coin processing device.

The coin C1 escapes from the stack storage section 15 and the impeller
When the extruding section 33 escapes from the stacking storage section 15 by rotating the 31 1/3 and the hollow section 34 reaches the lower portion of the stacking storage section 15, the stacking coin C descends and is fed out. Coin C1
The next next coin falls into the concave portion 34 and is placed on the bottom surface portion 14 in a horizontal posture to prepare for the next feeding operation.

The inclined portion 35 of the impeller 31 on the rear side in the rotation direction of the pushing section 33 smooths the falling posture of the coins C when the pushing section 33 escapes from the stacking storage section 15 and stacks. Stacked coins C stored in the storage section 15 in a stacked state can be prevented from being disturbed.

As the pair of impellers 31 rotate continuously or intermittently, the coins in the stacking storage unit 15 are sequentially fed out one by one as described above.

The last coin is fed out and the pressing member
When the contact plate 24 of 22 contacts the bottom portion 14, the pressing member
The lowermost position of 22 is detected by a detection sensor (not shown), and the pressing member 22 is raised to the retracted position, the pair of impellers 31 is also stopped at the fixed position, and the roller 43 is also stopped after the coin is sent out. .

[0038]

According to the coin feeding device of the present invention, a plurality of coins to be inserted at once are received in the stacking storage section, and the lowest coin is stacked and stored by the pair of coin push-out rotating bodies. The coins pushed out from the delivery slit can be pushed out from the delivery slit, and the coins can be held in and carried out by the holding carrier. It can be extended upward or obliquely downward.

According to the input coin feeding device of the second aspect, in addition to the effect of the input coin feeding device of the first aspect,
By the inclined part of the coin extrusion rotating body in the rotation direction rear side of the extrusion part, the falling posture of the pile coin when the extrusion part escapes from the pile storage part is smooth, and the coin is stored in the pile storage part in the pile state. It is possible to prevent the stacked coins from being disturbed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a coin feeding device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the inserted coin feeding device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the coin stacker of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the coin extruder of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the coin feeding device of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the coin feeding device of the embodiment in a standby state.

FIG. 7 is a plan view for explaining a coin feeding process of the input coin feeding device of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining a coin feeding process of the input coin feeding device of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a plan view for explaining a coin feeding process of the input coin feeding device of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a plan view for explaining a coin feeding process of the input coin feeding device of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a plan view illustrating a coin feeding process of the coin feeding device of the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a state in which the coin feeding device of the embodiment returns to a standby state after coin feeding.

13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating a coin feeding process of the input coin feeding device of the embodiment, wherein FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a stacked coin is moved forward, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the state inclined to the edge part side.

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 Standing wall 14 Bottom part 15 Stacked storage part 17 Reception port 18 Delivery slit 31 Impeller as coin rotating body 33 Extruding part 34 Depressed part 35 Inclined part 41, 42 Roller as gripper carrier

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References Japanese Utility Model Showa 55-150475 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 56-37159 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 62-168036 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Hei 3 110572 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G07D 1/00 G07F 1/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A receiving slot for receiving a plurality of coins to be inserted at once, a bottom portion and a standing wall for supporting and storing the bottom and peripheral surfaces of the coins inserted from the receiving slot in a stacked state. A stacking storage section formed with a delivery slit through which one coin thickness can pass through the lower portion of the standing wall; and a stacking section arranged at the left and right positions with respect to the delivery slit of the stacking storage section and on the bottom portion, A pair of coin extruding rotating bodies having a recess for receiving the lowest coin stored in the storage, and a pusher for extruding coins received in the recess from the delivery slit one by one; A coin feeder provided outside the delivery slit of the unit and holding a coin pushed out from the delivery slit in the mouth. 2. The coin feeding device according to claim 1, wherein an inclined portion is provided at a rear side in a rotation direction of the pushing portion of the coin pushing rotating body.