JP5780845B2 - Coin processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a coin processing apparatus that performs processing such as storing, transporting, and paying out coins. In particular, the present invention relates to a coin processing apparatus that can be applied to a change machine or the like.

  A coin transport mechanism provided in a coin processing device generally has a circulation belt provided with a protrusion for transporting coins, and a guide provided so as to face the circulation belt. In the case of a curved conveyance path, a configuration is adopted in which the circulation belt is positioned inside the curve of the conveyance path and the guide is positioned outside the curve of the conveyance path so as to face the circulation belt. The coins to be conveyed are pushed by the protrusions provided on the circulation belt, and one or two coins are reliably conveyed using the protrusions. During conveyance, the guide is regulated so that coins do not spill out of the curve from the protrusion of the circulation belt. Such a configuration is disclosed, for example, in FIG.

Japanese Patent No. 3963403

  In the case of the above-described coin conveyance mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 1, that is, in the case where the circulation belt is positioned inside the curved conveyance path and the guide is partitioned outside the curved conveyance path, the conveyance of the coin is curved. When the path is transported, the rear end of the coin is lifted up, and the rear end of the coin lifted between the front end of the protrusion provided on the circulation belt and the guide may be bitten, resulting in a transport abnormality.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems in the prior art, and provides a coin processing device including a coin transport mechanism that can smoothly transport coins without biting the coins during transport. Is an issue.

The invention according to claim 1 includes a coin conveyance mechanism that includes a circulation belt and a guide member, and a curved conveyance path that conveys coins between the circulation belt and the guide member, and the guide member includes: for partitioning the inside of the curved conveying path, it has a guide portion extending to the other via the convexly curved portion from one end, the circulating belt, which partitions the inside of the curved conveying path in the guide member A moving surface that is located outside the guide portion and is opposed to the guide portion from above with a predetermined gap is provided, and includes a moving surface that defines the outside of the curved conveyance path, and the moving surface has a moving direction. The coin processing device is characterized by being provided with protrusions protruding toward the guide portion at a predetermined interval along the guide line.

The invention according to claim 2 is the coin processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the curved conveyance path is a vertical conveyance path for conveying coins from below to above.
The invention according to claim 3 is provided with a next transport path for transporting coins delivered from the other end of the guide portion, and the circulating belt has the moving surface of the next transport path. The coin processing device according to claim 2, wherein the coin processing device is arranged in an overlapping state so as to face the tip portion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when the coin enters the curved conveyance path defined between the circulation belt and the guide member, the guide portion is configured to exclude coins that are to overlap and enter. The coin processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a separation guide for separating the stacked coins is provided at the one end of the coin processing apparatus.
The invention according to claim 5 is the coin processing device according to claim 4, wherein the separation guide has a tip end face facing the coin entering direction formed in an arc shape without corners. .

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the coin is transported through the guide portion, the protrusion protruding from the moving surface of the circulation belt is lifted even if the rear end of the coin is lifted from the convexly curved guide portion. It is not in a position to press the rear end of the coin toward the convex curved guide. For this reason, the rear end of the raised coin is not bitten between the guide portion having the convex curve and the circulating belt moving surface, in particular, between the protrusions. Therefore, coins can be smoothly conveyed through the curved conveyance path. In particular, as described in the second aspect, when the curved conveyance path is a vertical conveyance path, the coins can be reliably conveyed upward without occurrence of biting of the coins to be conveyed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, coins can be reliably delivered from the curved conveyance path partitioned by the circulation belt and the guide member to the next conveyance path. More specifically, the overlapping circulation belt reliably conveys the coin to the leading end of the next conveyance path.
According to invention of Claim 4, many coins do not approach at once with respect to the curved conveyance path of the comparatively narrow width divided between a circulation belt and a guide member, but coins do not enter a conveyance path. Biting into the inlet can be prevented. For this reason, a coin can be conveyed smoothly.

  According to the fifth aspect of the invention, since the tip of the separation guide has an arc shape, the coin can be smoothly separated without being caught by the tip of the separation guide and being clogged.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a coin processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the removable storage 20 in the coin processing device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the removable storage 20 in the coin processing device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a top view showing the configuration of the coin discharge unit in the removable storage 20. FIG. 5 is a side view showing the configuration of the transport unit 50 in the coin processing apparatus 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view of the longitudinal conveyance unit 57 using the first circulation belt 52. FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of a configuration example of a conventional curved conveyance path, and FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of a configuration example of a curved conveyance path according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram showing a state of light transmission / light shielding of the optical axis from the light emitting element to the light receiving element. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the coin money flow when the coin processing device 10 loads loose coins. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the money flow of coins when there is a loading mistake when loading loose coins in the coin processing apparatus 10. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a coin money flow in the coin processing device 10 when a loading mistake occurs when a loose coin is loaded.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a coin processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. A coin processing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing 12, and a detachable storage provided in the casing 12 so as to be detachable from the casing 12. A storage 20 and four fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36 fixed in the housing 12 are provided. In addition, a transport unit 50 that transports coins one by one is provided in the housing 12. The detachable storage 20 is configured such that coins are sent from the transport unit 50 when the detachable storage 20 is attached to the housing 12, and stores coins sent from the transport unit 50. Further, when the removable storage 20 is removed from the housing 12, the operator can manually store coins in the removable storage 20. Furthermore, the detachable storage 20 discharges coins stored in the detachable storage 20 downward by a coin discharge unit 24 described later, and sends the discharged coins to the transport unit 50. The four fixed storages 30, 32, 34, and 36 store coins by denomination. More specifically, each of the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36 is configured to receive coins from the transport unit 50 and store coins sent from the transport unit 50. Each fixed storage 30, 30, 34, 36 discharges coins stored in the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36 downward by a coin discharge unit 24, which will be described later, and transports the discharged coins. This is sent to the part 50.

  The housing 12 of the coin processing apparatus 10 is provided with a withdrawal port 14, and an operator can take out the coins from the withdrawal port 14. The withdrawal port 14 is connected to the transport unit 50, and coins are sent from the transport unit 50 to the withdrawal port 14. In addition, a withdrawal reject unit 16 is connected to the withdrawal port 14 so that coins accumulated in the withdrawal port 14 can be sent to the withdrawal reject unit 16.

  The coin processing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention can dispense 50 yen coins, 100 yen coins, and 500 yen coins, for example, among Japanese yen coins. Specifically, the removable storage 20 and the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, and 36 can store 50 yen coins, 100 yen coins, and 500 yen coins, respectively, among Japanese yen coins. By sending 50-yen coins, 100-yen coins, and 500-yen coins stored in these removable storages 20 and fixed storages 30, 32, 34, and 36 to the withdrawal port 14 by the transport unit 50. The operator can take out the withdrawal coins from the withdrawal opening 14.

Hereinafter, the detail of each component of such a coin processing apparatus 10 is demonstrated.
2 and 3 are perspective views showing the configuration of the removable storage 20 in the coin processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the detachable storage 20 is composed of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped frame having an open top, and the detachable storage 20 is provided with a handle 22 for carrying by an operator. It has been. The removable storage 20 can be pulled out from the housing 12 of the coin processing apparatus 10 to the side. As shown in FIG. 3, a coin discharge portion 24 is provided at the bottom of the removable storage 20, and the coins stored in the removable storage 20 are attached and detached one by one by the coin discharge portion 24. It is discharged below the free storage 20.

  FIG. 4 is a top view showing the configuration of the coin discharge unit in the removable storage 20. The configuration of the coin discharge unit 24 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The coin discharge unit 24 includes a disk-shaped disk 26 provided with four circular disk holes 26 a and a pair of left and right guide members 27 a and 27 b provided along the outer peripheral edge of the disk 26. The disk 26 is provided with a shaft 26b, and the disk 26 rotates around the shaft 26b in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4 (rotation operation during normal payout). The four disk holes 26 a provided in the disk 26 have the same shape, and the diameter of each disk hole 26 a is the largest coin among the various denomination coins to be processed by the coin processing device 10. It is almost the same size as the diameter. Specifically, the diameter of each disk hole 26a is substantially the same as the diameter of a 500 yen coin (27.5 mm).

  As described above, a pair of left and right guide members 27a and 27b are provided along the outer peripheral edge of the disk 26, and coins discharged by the coin discharge portion 24 pass between these guide members 27a and 27b. A passage 27c is formed. The width of the passage 27c is the diameter of the largest coin among various denomination coins to be processed by the coin processing apparatus 10 (specifically, the diameter of the 500 yen coin is 27.5 mm). ) Is becoming larger. As shown in FIG. 4, a movable bearing 28 is provided in a passage 27c formed between the pair of left and right guide members 27a and 27b. The movable bearing 28 is provided in the vicinity of one guide member 27a, and is movable in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4 when pressed by a coin passing through the passage 27c. The distance between the movable bearing 28 and the other guide member 27b is the diameter of the smallest coin among the various denomination coins to be processed by the coin processing apparatus 10 (specifically, the 50 yen coin The diameter is smaller than 24 mm). For this reason, when the disk 26 rotates around the shaft 26b in the clockwise direction in FIG. 4 and a coin is fed from the disk hole 26a of the disk 26 to the passage 27c, the coin comes into contact with the movable bearing 28 and this movable The bearing 28 is pressed in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. And the coin which passed through the area | region between the movable bearing 28 and the guide member 27b is further conveyed below in FIG. 4 from the channel | path 27c, and comes to be discharged | emitted from the coin discharge part 24. FIG.

Moreover, in the coin discharge part 24, the magnetic sensor 29 is provided in the exit side (lower side in FIG. 4) of the channel | path 27c. The magnetic sensor 29 detects coins that are further conveyed downward from the passage 27 c in FIG. 4 and discharged from the coin discharge unit 24.
FIG. 5 is a side view showing the configuration of the transport unit 50 in the coin processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, a coin discriminating unit 40 including the magnetic sensor 29 is provided below the removable storage 20 when attached to the housing 12. The coin discriminating unit 40 discriminates and counts the denomination of coins discharged from the coin discharging unit 24 of the removable storage 20 attached to the housing 12. The coin discriminating unit 40 is provided at a position directly below the coin discharging unit 24 as shown in FIG. 4, and the coin discriminated by the coin discriminating unit 40 is placed on the first circulation belt 52 disposed below the coin discriminating unit 40. Fall.

  Next, the structure of each fixed storage 30, 30, 32, 34, 36 will be described. As described above, coins are stored in the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, and 36 in denominations. More specifically, coins are sent from the transport unit 50 to the fixed storage units 30, 32, 34, and 36, and the fixed storage units 30, 32, 34, and 36 are sent from the transport unit 50. It is designed to store coins. Moreover, the coin discharge part 24 of the same structure as the coin discharge part 24 provided in the detachable storage 20 is each provided in the bottom part in each fixed storage 30,30,34,36, and each fixed storage. Coins stored in the warehouses 30, 32, 34, and 36 are discharged downward one by one by the coin discharge unit 24. Furthermore, a coin discriminating unit 40 having the same configuration as the coin discriminating unit 40 provided in the detachable storage 20 is provided below each fixed storage 30, 30, 34, 36. The coins discharged by the coin discharge units 30, 32, 34, and 36 are denominated and counted by the coin discriminating unit 40 including the magnetic sensor 29. Then, the coins identified and counted by the coin discriminating unit 40 fall onto the first circulation belt 52.

Next, the structure of the conveyance part 50 which conveys a coin within the housing | casing 12 is demonstrated with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the transport unit 50 is stretched around a plurality of pulleys 51, stretched around a first circulation belt 52 that circulates and moves in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 5, and a pair of pulleys 53. And a second circulation belt 54 that circulates in the direction of the arrow.
The first circulation belt 52 includes a horizontal conveyance unit 56 extending in the left-right direction in FIG. 5 and a vertical conveyance unit 57 that is connected to the left side of the horizontal conveyance unit 56 and conveys coins from bottom to top. Contains. Coins discharged downward from the detachable storage 20 and the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36 by the coin discharge unit 24 pass through the coin discriminating unit 40, and the lateral conveyance unit of the first circulation belt 52. 56. Then, the coins conveyed in the left direction in FIG. 5 by the horizontal and horizontal direction conveyance unit 56 are conveyed upward by the vertical direction conveyance unit 57 and delivered to the second circulation belt 54.

  The vertical conveyance unit 57 includes a curved conveyance path 52b curved in a substantially arc shape. Further, pins (protrusions) 52 a are provided on the surface of the first circulation belt 52 at predetermined intervals in the length direction of the first circulation belt 52. As the first circulation belt 52 is circulated and moved, 1 to 3 coins are conveyed by the pin 52a. In particular, in the vertical conveyance path 57, the coins are lifted upward one by one by the pins 52a and delivered to the second circulation belt 54.

In FIG. 5, a large number of small-diameter pulleys 51 shown in the vertical conveyance unit 57 are pulleys necessary to keep the first circulation belt 52 curved in a substantially arc shape.
One of the features of the coin processing apparatus 10 according to this embodiment is that the first circulation belt 52 is arranged so as to partition the curved outer side of the curved conveyance path 52b in the vertical conveyance section 57 including the curved conveyance path 52b. It is (is stretched). And the surface of the 1st circulation belt 52 arrange | positioned on the curve outer side is provided with the pin (protrusion) 52a which protrudes toward the curve inner side.

FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view of the longitudinal conveyance unit 57 using the first circulation belt 52. With reference to this FIG. 6, the structure of the vertical direction conveyance part 57, especially the curved conveyance path 52b is demonstrated in detail.
Referring to FIG. 6, the curved conveyance path 52 b in the vertical conveyance unit 57 includes a first circulation belt 52 and a guide member 58, and is curved between the first circulation belt 52 and the guide member 58. A conveyance path 52b is defined. The guide member 58 has a convex curved portion 61 as a guide portion convexly curved in an arc shape from the lower end 59 to the upper end 60. On the other hand, the first circulation belt 52 extends so as to be positioned on the curved outer side of the convex curved portion 61 of the guide member 58, and is disposed so as to have a moving surface 62 that faces the convex curved portion 61 with a predetermined interval. Yes. Thereby, the curved conveyance path 52 b is defined by the convex curved portion 61 of the guide member 58 and the moving surface 62 of the first circulation belt 52. Then, on the moving surface 62 of the first circulation belt 52 that defines the curved outer side of the curved conveyance path 52b, pins (protrusions) projecting toward the convex curved portion 61 of the guide member 58 at regular intervals along the moving direction. ) 52a. Thus, even if the lower end of the coin to be conveyed is lifted from the convex curved portion 61 of the curved conveyance path 52b by moving the first circulation belt 52 so as to define the outside of the curved conveyance path 52b, the pin There is no inconvenience that a coin is caught between 52a and the moving surface 62 of the first circulation belt 52 so as to be caught.

  This will be described more specifically with reference to the schematic diagrams of FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIG. 7A is a configuration example of a conventional curved conveyance path. That is, the outside of the curved conveyance path is partitioned by the guide member, and the circulation belt is disposed inside the curved conveyance path. With such a configuration, the lower end of the coin conveyed upward by the pin 52a rises from the inner conveyance surface in the curved conveyance path. The pin 52a is likely to enter under the lower end of the floating coin, and a biting state in which the lower end of the coin is sandwiched between the pin 52a and the guide member is likely to occur.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the guide member 58 is disposed inside the curved conveyance path 52b and the circulation belt 52 is disposed outside the curved conveyance path 52b, the circulation belt disposed outside. Since the pin 52a protruding from the moving surface 62 of the pin 52 acts to push up the lower part of the coin whose lower end is lifted in the curved conveyance path 52b, the lower end of the coin is sandwiched between the conveyance path and the pin 52a. There is no problem of biting.

  Referring again to FIG. 6, the separation guide for separating the stacked coins when the two coins are conveyed in a stacked state by the first circulation belt 52 to the lower end 59 of the guide member 58. 63 is formed. In this embodiment, the separation guide 63 is specifically a “rake face” 63 for scooping coins in the direction of coin entry into the curved conveyance path 52b. That is, the rake face 63 as the separation guide is displaced so that the tip of the coin is scooped up toward the inlet side of the curved conveyance path 52b when the tip of the coin that is lifted upward comes into contact. The lower end is separated from the pin 52a, and the balance is lost.

The rake face 63 as the separation guide is preferably formed in a circular arc shape having no corners at the lower end. If there is no corner, even if the leading edge of the coin collides, the coin is displaced along the rounded arcuate portion, and the leading edge of the coin does not collide to cause coin biting.
The coins conveyed through the curved conveyance path 52 b are transferred onto the second circulation belt 54. For this reason, the front end 54a of the second circulation belt 54 is positioned adjacent to the upper end 60 of the guide member 58, and the second circulation belt 54 is arranged to rotate and move rearward (rightward in FIG. 6). ing.

  In this embodiment, the moving surface 62 of the first circulation belt 52 that defines the curved outer side of the curved conveyance path 52b is opposed to the upper side of the tip 54a of the second circulation belt 54, that is, the second circulation belt. 54 is arranged so as to overlap the tip 54a of 54. With such a configuration, the coins conveyed by the pins 52a projecting from the first circulation belt 52 are surely conveyed until they get on the front end 54a of the second circulation belt 54. The coins can be stably delivered to the second circulation belt 54. And a coin does not stay or stand between the curved conveyance path 52b and the 2nd circulation belt 54, and the processing time for coin conveyance also becomes short.

  In this embodiment, a residual detection sensor 55 (see FIG. 1) is provided for detecting coins that are carried on the second circulation belt 54, but the residual detection sensor 55 receives the coins. The coins are forcibly conveyed by the pins 52a by the first circulation belt 52 provided in the above-described overlap state until the position where the coins can be reliably conveyed by the second circulation belt 54. . Therefore, the problem that coins stay in an area that cannot be detected by the residual detection sensor can be solved.

  Referring again to FIG. 5, the second circulation belt 54 is positioned above the removable storage 20 and the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36, and the second circulation belt 54 is secondly separated by a branch member (not shown). The coins are branched from the circulation belt 54, and the branched coins are sent to the removable storage 20 and the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36. Here, a plurality (specifically, five) of branch members are provided along the second circulation belt 54 corresponding to the removable storage 20 and the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36, respectively. ing.

  Further, a reverse roller 64 that rotates in the clockwise direction in FIG. 5 is provided at the downstream end portion (the right end in FIG. 5) of the second circulation belt 54. The coins sent to the withdrawal port 14 can be separated one by one. In addition, as described above, the second circulation belt 54 is provided with a residual coin detection unit 55 that detects this when coins remain in the second circulation belt 54 (see FIG. 1). . The residual coin detector 55 is constituted by a magnetic sensor, for example. As shown in FIG. 1, a detection sensor 65 that detects coins sent from the second circulation belt 54 to the withdrawal port 14 is provided on the downstream side of the reverse rotation roller 64 in the transport unit 50. The detection sensor 65 is composed of, for example, an optical sensor, and counts coins sent from the second conveyance belt 54 of the conveyance unit 50 to the withdrawal port 14.

  Next, the reverse rotation control of the transport unit 50 according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 5, particularly the transport unit using the first circulation belt 52 will be described. The first circulation belt 52 receives coins that are dropped from either the removable storage 20 or the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, and 36 via the coin discriminating unit 40, and the coins are received in FIG. The sheet is conveyed leftward by the horizontal conveyance unit 56, and further conveyed upward by the vertical direction conveyance unit 57.

  Coins fed from the detachable storage 20 and the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, and 36 are laid on the first circulation belt 52 in a state of lying sideways, and are conveyed to the left. This is because the space allowing the coin to stand between the first circulation belt 52 and the feeding portion fed out from the removable storage 20 and the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36 via the coin discriminating unit 40. Rather, the coins that are fed out are received while lying on the first circulation belt 52. Therefore, the receiving behavior of the coins fed out from the feeding unit is stable, and smooth coin transportation can be performed.

On the other hand, in the lower part of the vertical transport unit 57, it is necessary to secure a passage that allows the coins to stand, and the coins staying here are transported upward by the vertical transport unit 57 in order. That is, a space for scooping up coins is required below the vertical conveyance unit 57, and there is a passage that allows coins to stand.
Therefore, when a large number of standing coins are generated in A in the drawing, the vertical direction conveyance unit 57 needs to perform control to reverse the first circulation belt 52 in order to break it. Further, when coins are jammed in B in the figure, that is, when the coins are jammed into the entrance of the curved conveyance path 52b, it is necessary to reversely control the first circulation belt 52.

  By the way, when the first circulation belt 52 is reversely controlled when the coins are fed out from the fixed storage 36 and conveyed, the first circulation belt 52 below the fixed storage 36 is directed leftward. 5, it can be predicted that coins are on the first circulation belt 52. When the first circulation belt 52 is reversed in such a state, the coins on the first circulation belt 52 are There is a possibility that coins will be jammed at the rear end 66 of the conveyance path.

On the other hand, in the case where coins are fed out and conveyed from the removable storage 20, the coins on the first circulation belt 52 are the region on the left side from the bottom of the removable storage 20. For this reason, when the first circulation belt 52 is controlled to be reversely rotated, the amount of movement to be reversely rotated can be reversed longer as the distance to the conveyance path rear end portion 66 is longer.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the following conditions are set for the reverse rotation control of the first circulation belt 52 in the case where the standing coin in the portion A in the figure is broken or the coin is clogged in the figure B or the like. Yes.
(1) Reverse rotation control is managed at a certain time or a certain distance at a time. Then, the number of reversible times is changed depending on from which storage the coin is conveyed when the coin is being fed out. In other words, the number of possible reverse rotations is set for each storage container that is fed out.
(2) Even if reverse rotation control is performed, if forward rotation can be performed in the next forward rotation for the same time (or the same distance) as the reverse rotation, the number of reverse rotations can be repeated without being reduced.

  This is shown in Table 1.

すなわち、着脱自在収納庫２０は逆転頻度が高く、かつ搬送路終端部６６までの距離が長いため、逆転制御可能な最大回数が、たとえば５回と設定されている。また、固定収納部３０は、着脱自在収納庫２０の次に逆転頻度が高く、搬送路終端部６６までの距離も長いので、逆転制御可能な最大回数がたとえば４回と設定されている。このようにして、固定収納庫３４は逆転制御可能な最大回数が３回、固定収納庫３６は逆転制御可能な最大回数が２回、固定収納庫３６は逆転制御可能な最大回数が１回と、順に少なくなるように設定されている。

That is, since the removable storage 20 has a high reverse rotation frequency and a long distance to the conveyance path terminal portion 66, the maximum number of times that the reverse rotation control is possible is set to 5 times, for example. Moreover, since the fixed storage part 30 has the highest reverse rotation frequency next to the removable storage 20 and the distance to the conveyance path terminal part 66 is also long, the maximum number of times that the reverse rotation control is possible is set to 4 times, for example. In this way, the maximum number of times that the fixed storage 34 can be reversely controlled is 3 times, the maximum number of times that the fixed storage 36 can be reversely controlled is 2 times, and the maximum number of times that the fixed storage 36 can be reversely controlled is 1 time. Are set to decrease in order.

The number of times of reverse rotation control is set, and if the conveyance failure is not resolved even if the reverse rotation control is performed 10 times in total, error processing is performed.
By performing such control, the deterioration of the coin delivery behavior, the residual due to the turning of the coin and the delay of the processing time are improved, and smoother coin transportation can be realized.
In this embodiment, a DC motor is used as the motor 67 for driving the first circulation belt 52 because the first circulation belt 52 needs to be reversely rotated.

Next, still another feature of the coin processing device according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
The conventional detachable storage 20 provided with the coin discharge unit 24 is not provided with an empty detection function for detecting whether or not coins remain in the detachable storage 20.
For this reason, when a deformed coin or a foreign object is sandwiched between the disks 26 and the coin cannot be paid out, the calculation of the coin has been wrong. In addition, because empty guarantee can only be done by the coin feeding operation, if there is a coin in the storage, it will always be withdrawn, and when processing is reset, it will not be possible to confirm the presence or absence of coins in the storage was there.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a light emitting element (or light receiving element) 70 is disposed on the side surface of the removable storage 20, and a light receiving element (or light emitting element) 71 is disposed below the disk 26. Thus, an oblique optical axis 73 passes between the side surface of the removable storage 20 and the disk 26. The optical axis 73 is slanted so as not to interfere with the insertion of coins into the removable storage 20.

The coin empty detection in the removable storage 20 is performed as follows.
The motor that rotates the disk 26 is reversed and the light transmission time is checked. When the disk 26 is reversed, no coin is discharged from the coin discharge unit 24. In case you are reversing the disc 26, the light transmitting / shielding of the optical axis from the light emission element to the light receiving element is as shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 8A, when a regular light transmission and light shielding pulse output is obtained, the light is shielded by the disk 26, and there is no coin in the storage. On the other hand, when a coin remains in the disc hole 26a as shown in FIG. 8B or a coin exists on the disc 26, the time during which the optical axis is shielded as shown in FIG. 8B. Extend. Therefore, whether or not coins remain in the storage can be detected based on whether or not the pulse output is obtained by extending the light shielding time from the regular light shielding and light transmission pulse output in the empty state.

Next, the money flow of coins when loading loose coins in the above embodiment (the coin processing device 10 shown in FIG. 1) will be described with reference to FIG.
The user sets the denomination to be loaded on the operation panel (not shown) and loads the specific denomination rose coin set in the removable storage 20. When loaded, coins are drawn one by one from the lower part of the removable storage 20, and the coin storage of the designated denomination is performed while the coin determination unit 40 including the magnetic sensor 29 denominates and counts the number of denominations. If it is the form, it will load one by one in the fixed storage 30.

If all the fed coins are normal, the loaded value is counted in the stock of the fixed storage 30 with the counted value determined and counted by the coin discriminating unit 40 as positive, and the loading process is completed.
By the way, when the coin discriminating unit 40 detects reject coins (RJ coins) such as different denominations, the coin transport destination is changed to the RJ (reject) exclusion destination (withdrawal port 14) at that time, and the RJ coins. At the same time, several normal coins in front of the RJ coin are also transported to the RJ exclusion destination (withdrawal port 14). At that time, a detection sensor 65 is provided in front of the RJ exclusion destination (withdrawal port 14), and the number of coins passing by light shielding is counted.

In this way, when the count value counted by the detection sensor 65 is subtracted from the total counted by the coin discriminating unit 40, the number of coins loaded in the fixed storage 30 is calculated, and the amount of money in the fixed storage 30 is calculated. It can be confirmed.
However, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, when a foreign object that cannot be counted by the magnetic sensor 29, such as a resin button or a wrapping paper wrapping paper, is mixed between the normal coin and the RJ coin, Although not detected, the detection sensor 65 detects it. In this case, if the count value counted by the detection sensor 65 is subtracted from the total counted by the coin discriminating unit 40, an incorrect number of coins loaded in the fixed storage 30 will be calculated.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the coin discriminating unit 40 detects the RJ coin in the loading process, the RJ coin and several coins thus far are transported to the RJ discharge destination (withdrawal port 14) and are detachably stored. The feeding from the storage 20 is stopped. Then, all the coins loaded in the fixed storage 30 until the RJ coins are detected are returned to the removable storage 20, and the above-described loading process is executed again. Then, when all the coins in the detachable storage 20 are loaded into the fixed storage 30 without detecting RJ coins, an error in the number of loads does not occur by completing the loading.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, a coin money flow in the case where a loading error occurs during loading of loose coins in the present embodiment will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 10, a case will be described in which loose coins are drawn out from the removable storage 20 during operation of the coin processing apparatus 10 and loaded into the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, 36 according to denomination. Such loading is performed particularly when the amount of a fixed storage that stores coins by denomination is reduced during operation.

First, when loading a coin of a specific denomination from the detachable storage 20, the coin is paid out from the detachable storage 20 and loaded into the fixed storage 30, for example. At this time, the denomination fed out from the detachable storage 20 is discriminated by the coin discriminating section 40 and is loaded into the corresponding storage, that is, the fixed storage 30 in this embodiment, while being counted.
However, if it is determined that the first denomination is a different denomination, the specified denomination and the loaded denomination are incorrect, and the denomination is not transported to the fixed storage 30. Return to the removable storage 20 and finish feeding.

Then, the user is notified that the loaded denomination is wrong, and urges the user to confirm.
By doing so, normally, it took time to complete the processing to reject all the coins loaded in the removable storage 20, but by ending in this state, Processing can be stopped quickly. Further, by returning the rejected coins to the removable storage 20, it is possible to easily exchange different denominations.

Furthermore, an operation when directly storing in each of the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, and 36 before starting the operation will be described with reference to FIG.
When loading is performed, first, the number of sheets stored in each of the fixed storages 30, 32, 34, and 36 is counted. First, coins stored in the fixed storage 30 are denominated by the coin determination unit 40, and all coins are fed out and stored in the removable storage 20. Thereafter, the fixed storage 30 is counted by returning from the removable storage 20 and returning to the original fixed storage 30. And this operation | movement is performed in order about the fixed storages 32,34,36.

  However, as shown in FIG. 11, when the denomination to be loaded is wrong, the coins fed out from the fixed storage 30 are determined to be different denominations by the coin discriminating unit 40. In this case, when a predetermined number of, for example, five different denominations continue, it is determined that the loading denomination is incorrect, and the process is terminated when all coins are loaded into the removable storage 20. At the same time, the user is informed that the loading denomination is wrong and urges the user to confirm.

By doing in this way, even when the wrong denomination is stored, the coin is transferred to the removable storage 20, so that the wrong coin can be easily taken out. Moreover, even if it is rejected, it is not conveyed to the reject port, so that it is possible to easily take out the loose coins.
The present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Coin processing apparatus 20 Removable storage 30, 30, 34, 36 Fixed storage 50 Conveying part 52 1st circulation belt 52a Pin (protrusion)
52b Curved conveyance path 54 Second circulation belt 56 Horizontal conveyance unit 57 Vertical conveyance unit 58 Guide member 59 Lower end 60 Upper end 61 Convex curved unit 62 Moving surface 63 Separation guide

Claims (5)

A coin transport mechanism having a circulation belt and a guide member, in which a curved transport path for transporting coins is defined between the circulation belt and the guide member;
The guide member has a guide portion that extends from one end to the other end via a convex curved portion for defining the inside of the curved conveyance path,
The circulation belt is located outside a guide portion that divides the inside of the curved conveyance path in the guide member , and is disposed to face the guide portion from above with a predetermined interval, and is arranged outside the curved conveyance path. With a moving surface that divides
The coin processing apparatus, wherein the moving surface is provided with protrusions protruding toward the guide portion at predetermined intervals along a moving direction. The coin processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the curved conveyance path is a vertical conveyance path for conveying coins from below to above. A next transport path for transporting coins delivered from the other end of the guide portion is provided;
The coin processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the circulation belt is arranged in an overlapped state so that the moving surface also faces a front end portion of the next transport path.   When one of the coins enters the curved conveying path defined between the circulation belt and the guide member, the one end of the guide portion is stacked to eliminate the coins that are about to enter. The coin processing device according to claim 2, wherein a separation guide for separating the coins is provided.   The coin processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the separation guide has a tip end surface facing the coin entering direction formed in an arc shape having no corners.

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