JP3303771B2 - Coin identification 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 discriminating apparatus which is incorporated in a vending machine or the like and which discriminates and sorts the type of inserted coin.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, devices handling coins, such as vending machines, have a built-in coin identification device for identifying the type of inserted coin and allocating a destination.

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional coin identification device. When a coin is inserted through the coin insertion slot 50a, the coin identification device 50 determines the type and authenticity of the coin by a sensor 52 provided on the back side of the substrate 51. The coin that has passed the sensor 52 then passes through the gate 53. In the gate 53, when the inserted coin is a fake coin or a bad coin, the coin is passed to the front side of the gate and distributed to a return passage (not shown). On the other hand, if the coin is a true coin, the gate 53 sends the coin to the gate 54 by passing through the back side.

When the coin is, for example, a 10-yen coin or a 50-yen coin, the gate 54 distributes the coin to the gate 55 side.
If it is a 00 yen coin or a 500 yen coin, it is sorted to the gate 57 side. When the coin is a 10-yen coin, the gate 55
It passes through the back side and is distributed to the gate 56 side. On the other hand, when the coin is a 50-yen coin, the gate 55 passes through the front side and distributes it to a coin tube (not shown) for a 50-yen coin. However, when the coin tube for 50 yen coins is full, the coins are distributed to the gate 56 side.

[0005] When the coin is a 10-yen coin, the gate 56 passes through the front side and distributes the coin to a 10-yen coin tube (not shown). If the coin is a 50-yen coin, or the coin tube is full even if the coin is a 10-yen coin, the coin is distributed to a safe (not shown).

[0006] When the coin is a 500-yen coin, the gate 57 passes the back side and distributes the coin to the gate 58. On the other hand, when the coin is a 100-yen coin, the coin is passed through the front side and distributed to a coin tube (not shown) for a 100-yen coin. However, when the coin tube for 100 yen coins is full, the coins are distributed to the gate 58.

When the coin is a 500-yen coin, the gate 58 passes through the front side and sorts the coin tube into a 500-yen coin tube (not shown). Also, 100 coins
In the case of a coin, or if the coin tube is full even with a 500 yen coin, it is passed through the back side and sorted to a safe not shown.

The coins thus sorted are stored in each coin tube. The coins in the coin tube are paid out as change or return coins in order from the bottom coin as needed.

[0009]

However, in the conventional coin discriminating apparatus 50, when the return button is pressed, the lowest coin in the coin tube of the corresponding amount is paid out. When the sensor is inserted, if the sensor mistakenly determines that the coin is a true coin, the false coin is received and the true coin is paid out. For this reason, the act of inserting a fake coin and pressing the return button without buying a product and allowing the user to return with a positive coin is permitted, which may cause financial damage.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a coin identification device capable of preventing a false coin from being replaced with a true coin.

[0011]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in a coin identification device which is built in a vending machine or the like and identifies and sorts the authenticity and type of inserted coins, the coin identification device includes: A coin identification unit for identifying the authenticity and type of the coin; a sorting mechanism for sorting the identified coin according to the identified authenticity and type; and a coin sorted according to the type. It consists stopper for opening and closing the passage, the stopper
A temporary holding mechanism for temporarily holding the coin in the passage by closing the passage , and a holding mechanism provided at a subsequent stage of the temporary holding mechanism, and the holding is released by opening the passage of the stopper.
Introduction destination switching mechanism to switch to a coin storage apparatus having a coin tube for accommodating coins to paid out by the return opening side and co <br/> in dispenser introduction destination of the coin dropping through said passage, A sorting control unit that controls the sorting mechanism in accordance with the authenticity and type identified by the coin identification unit, and performs sorting control of the coins; and the stopper closes the passage and temporarily stores the sorted coins. In addition to holding the coin, when the return command of the coin is issued and when the purchase command is issued, the stopper controls the temporary holding mechanism so that the passage is released and the temporary holding of the coin is released. When a command to return the coins is issued, the coins on hold are introduced into the return port side, and a purchase command is issued. And a destination switching control means for controlling the destination switching mechanism so as to introduce the held coin into the coin storage device when the coin is held. Is done.

In such a coin identification device, when a coin is inserted, the coin identification section identifies the type of the coin. The distribution control unit controls the distribution mechanism according to the type identified by the coin identification unit, and performs distribution control of coins. The temporary holding control means controls the temporary holding mechanism to hold coins temporarily.

[0013] The introduction destination switching control means introduces the held coin to the return port side when a coin return command is issued, and transfers the held coin to the coin storage device side when a purchase command is issued. The introduction destination switching mechanism is controlled so as to be introduced.

Thus, when a return command is issued without purchasing a product, the inserted coin can be returned as it is, and coin replacement is prevented.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the function of the present embodiment. It is assumed that the coin identification device of this embodiment is built in a vending machine. In this coin identification device, coin 1
Is inserted, the sensor 2 first identifies the authenticity of the coin 1 and the type of the amount. The distribution control means 3 drives the driving device 4 based on the identification result and operates the gate 4a to control the distribution of the coins 1.

The sorted coin 1 is a specific coin,
For example, if the coin being handled is the most expensive coin, a stopper 6a is provided on the path. The temporary holding control means 5 controls the operation of the stopper 6 a by driving the driving device 6, and
Hold on hold. When a return command or a product purchase command is sent from the vending machine, the coin 1 is released from holding.

When the return command is sent without purchasing the product, the introduction destination switching control means 7 drives the driving device 8 to operate the gate 8a, and distributes the coin 1 to the passage through which the return port passes. On the other hand, when the purchase command is sent, the introduction destination switching control means 7 distributes the coin 1 to the coin storage device side.

Next, a specific configuration of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a front view showing an external configuration of a coin processing device provided with the coin identification device of the present embodiment. The coin processing device 10 is, for example, a device installed in a vending machine,
It is mainly composed of a coin identification device 11, a coin storage device 12, and a coin payout device 13. The coin identification device 11 identifies a coin inserted from the coin insertion slot 11a, and according to the type of coin, each of the coin tubes 12a, 12b, 12c, 12c of the coin storage device 12.
Assign to d. Here, the coin tubes 12a, 12
b, 12c and 12d are coin tubes for 500 yen coin, 100 yen coin, 10 yen coin and 50 yen coin, respectively. The coin tube 12e is a tube for auxiliary change, and stores coins dedicated to change.

The change dispensing device 13 draws out the coins in the coin tubes 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and 12e as necessary, and pays out the change to the user of the vending machine as a change, or removes the coins for the inserted amount. return.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state where the coin processing apparatus 10 is installed. The coin processing device 10 includes a vending machine 2
0 is attached to the back surface of the panel 21. The operation of the coin processing device 10 is controlled by the control device 17. The control device 17 may be used for controlling the entire vending machine 20 or may be used exclusively for the coin processing device 10. When a dedicated control device is used, it may be built in the coin processing device 10.

A gate 1 is provided below the coin processing device 10.
4 and a solenoid 15 are provided. A safe 16 is provided below the gate 14. The solenoid 15 operates in accordance with a drive signal from the control device 17 and controls switching of the direction of the gate 14.

The coin C1 inserted from the coin insertion slot 22 on the panel 21 side is introduced into the coin identification device 11 through the coin insertion slot 11a. Coin processing device 10
Stores coin C1 in coin storage device 12 described above. If coin C1 is a fake coin or a bad coin,
Alternatively, when the return button 23 is pressed or when the coin tube is full, the coin C1 is discharged from the lower surface. Also, in the case of a normal change dispensing operation, the lowermost coin in the coin tube is discharged.

When the coin C1 is a fake coin or a bad coin, when the return button 23 is pressed, or when a normal change dispensing operation is performed, the control device 17
The solenoid 15 is turned on, for example, to move the gate 14 to the left side of the drawing, and the coin C1 is distributed to the return port 24.
On the other hand, when the coin tube is full, the controller 17
Turns off the solenoid 15, moves the gate 14 to the right side of the drawing, and collects the coin C1 in the safe 16.

Next, a specific configuration of the coin identification device 11 will be described. FIG. 4 shows a coin identification device 11 of the present embodiment.
It is a front view which shows the structure of. However, in FIG.
It is shown with the front plate removed. When a coin is inserted through the coin insertion slot 11a, the coin identification device 11 determines the type and authenticity of the coin by a sensor 31 provided on the back side of the substrate 30. Sensor 31
Pass through the gate 32 next. In the gate 32, when the inserted coin is a fake coin or a bad coin, the coin is passed through the front side of the gate and distributed to a return passage (not shown). On the other hand, if the coin is a true coin, the gate 32 sends the coin to the gate 33 by passing through the back side.

When the coin is, for example, a 10-yen coin or a 50-yen coin, the gate 33 distributes the coin to the gate 34 side.
If it is a 00 yen coin or a 500 yen coin, it is sorted to the gate 36 side. When the coin is a 10-yen coin, the gate 34
It passes through the back side and is distributed to the gate 35 side. On the other hand, when the coin is a 50-yen coin, the gate 34 passes through the front side and the coin tube 12d for the 50-yen coin shown in FIG.
Distribute to. However, coin tube 1 for 50 yen coin
If 2d is full, it is distributed to the gate 35 side.

When the coin is a 10-yen coin, the gate 35 passes the front side and distributes the coin to the coin tube 12c for a 10-yen coin shown in FIG. When the coin is a 50-yen coin, or when the coin tube 12c is full even if the coin is a 10-yen coin, the coin is distributed to the safe 16 shown in FIG. At this time, the gate 14 naturally performs the corresponding operation.

When the coin is a 500-yen coin, the gate 36 passes the back side and distributes the coin to the gate 37. on the other hand,
If the coin is a 100 yen coin, pass it through the front side and
Is distributed to the coin tube 12b for 100 yen coin indicated by. However, when the coin tube 12b for 100 yen coins is full, the coins are distributed to the gate 37.

When the coin is a 500-yen coin, the gate 37 passes through the back side and distributes the coin to the coin tube 12a for the 500-yen coin shown in FIG. Also, if the coin is 10
If the coin tube 12a is full in the case of a 0-yen coin or a 500-yen coin, the coin is passed to the front side and distributed to the safe 16 side. Further, the gate 37 has 500
Even when the return button 23 is pressed after the coin is inserted, the coin is passed through the front side and distributed to the safe 16 side. However, the 500 yen coin in this case is the gate 14 shown in FIG.
To the return port 24.

Each of these gates 32, 33, 34, 35,
The operations of 36 and 37 are controlled by a solenoid as described later. Incidentally, a stopper 38 is provided between the gate 36 and the gate 37. This stopper 3
Reference numeral 8 is provided to temporarily hold a 500-yen coin when it is inserted. The operation of the stopper 38 is controlled by a solenoid as described later.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view seen from the right direction in FIG. In the coin identification device 11, four solenoids 41, 42, 43, 4 for operating the gates 32 to 37 are provided.
4 are provided. The solenoid 41 controls the opening and closing operation of the gate 32. The solenoid 42 controls the opening and closing operation of the gate 33. Also, the solenoid 43
Controls the opening and closing operations of the gate 34 and the gate 36. Further, the solenoid 44 controls opening and closing operations of the gate 35 and the gate 37.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing the structure of the stopper 38 portion. The stopper 38 is provided so as to be slidable in the left-right direction in the drawing by a solenoid 45. That is, when the solenoid 45 is off, the stopper 38 is located on the right side of the drawing and
And when the solenoid 45 is on, the passage 30a is opened. Normally, solenoid 45
Is off, the stopper 38 blocks the passage 30a. For this reason, the coin 38 of 500 yen is prevented from falling in the middle of the passage 30a by the stopper 38. Thus, until the solenoid 45 is turned on,
The coin C2 is temporarily reserved. At this time, the gate 37 is located on the left side as shown in the figure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a change in the operation of the stopper 38 when the return button 23 is pressed. When the return button 23 is pressed without purchasing a product after the coin C2 of 500 yen is inserted, the solenoid 45 is turned on, and the stopper 38 opens the passage 30a, as shown in the figure. As a result, the coin C2 falls down the passage 30a,
It is sorted by the gate 37 and sent to the return port 24 side.

On the other hand, if a product is purchased while the coin C2 is held, as shown in FIG.
7 moves to the right. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the solenoid 45 is turned on, and the stopper 38 opens the passage 30a. Thus, the coin C2 falls down the passage 30a, is sorted by the gate 37, and is sent to the coin tube 12a for 500 yen.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure related to the coin returning operation of the control device 17. [S1] It is determined whether or not a coin has been inserted. If there is, the process proceeds to step S2, and if not, step S1 is repeated. [S2] It is determined whether or not the inserted coin is a 500-yen coin. If the coin is a 500-yen coin, the process proceeds to step S4; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S3. [S3] Since the inserted coins are other than the 500 yen coin, the coins are distributed to the coin tubes corresponding to the coins as usual. If the corresponding coin tube is full, the coin is distributed to the safe 16. [S4] A 500-yen coin is temporarily held. [S5] It is determined whether the return button 23 has been pressed and a return command has been issued. If so, the process proceeds to step S6, and if not, the process proceeds to step S7. [S6] The 500-yen coin held is distributed to the return port 24. [S7] It is determined whether or not a product has been purchased. If so, the process proceeds to step S8. If not, the process proceeds to step S5.
Return to [S8] The reserved 500-yen coin is distributed to the coin tube 12a for 500 yen.

As described above, in the present embodiment, if a return command is issued without purchasing a product even if a coin is inserted, the inserted coin itself is returned. Can be prevented.

In the present embodiment, a mechanism is provided for holding only the most expensive 500 yen coin among the amount of money to be handled, so that damage can be suppressed as much as possible with a simple mechanism.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, coins are temporarily held, and when a coin return command is issued, the coins being held are introduced into the return slot.
The inserted coin can be returned as it is.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent the coin from being replaced with a fake coin.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of the function of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view illustrating an external configuration of a coin processing device including the coin identification device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an installed state of the coin processing device.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the configuration of the coin identification device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view seen from the right direction in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a structure of a stopper portion.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a change in the operation of the stopper when the return button is pressed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an initial state of a coin distribution operation at the time of product purchase.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a sorting operation of coins at the time of product purchase.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure relating to a coin returning operation of the control device.

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional coin identification device.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 coin 2 sensor 3 distribution control means 4, 6, 8 drive device 4a, 8a gate 5 temporary holding control means 6a stopper 7 introduction destination switching control means 10 coin processing device 11 coin identification device 11a coin insertion slot 12 coin storage device 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e Coin tube 13 Coin payout device 16 Safe 17 Control device 20 Vending machine 22 Coin slot 23 Return button 24 Return slot 31 Sensor 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 Gate 38 Stopper

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A coin identifying device built in a vending machine or the like for identifying and sorting the authenticity and type of inserted coins, a coin identifying section for identifying authenticity and type of inserted coins, a distributing mechanism for distributing a destination in accordance with the authenticity and type identified the coins, made from the stopper for opening and closing the passage of the coin sorted according to the type, those <br/> the passage closing of the stopper A temporary holding mechanism for temporarily holding the coin in the passage; and a temporary holding mechanism provided at a stage subsequent to the temporary holding mechanism ,
Introduction destination switching mechanism to switch to a coin storage apparatus having a coin tube for accommodating coins to be solved hold the passageway open paid out by the return opening side and the coin dispenser introduction destination of the coin dropping through said passage A distribution control unit that controls the distribution mechanism in accordance with the authenticity and type identified by the coin identification unit, and performs distribution control of the coin; and the stopper closes the passage and is distributed. When the coin is temporarily held, and when the coin return command is issued and the purchase command is issued, the temporary holding mechanism is configured so that the stopper opens the passage and releases the coin temporary holding. A temporary holding control means for controlling the unit, and when the coin return command is issued, returns the held coin to the return. Side, and when a purchase command is issued, an introduction destination switching control unit that controls the introduction destination switching mechanism so as to introduce the pending coins to the coin storage device side. Characterized coin identification device. 2. The coin identification device according to claim 1, wherein the temporary holding mechanism is provided on a path of a specific coin. 3. The coin according to claim 2 , wherein the specific coin is the most expensive coin among the coins handled.
The coin identification device as described.