JPH01305496A - Coin possessed number counter for coin mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To determine whether a counter is to be preset or not and to determine the value of the counter when the counter is to be preset by judging the existence of a coin in a coin tube when the coin tube is installed. CONSTITUTION:A counter 40 adds and counts input signals 44a generated in an input coin detector 44 when the coin is introduced to a corresponding coin tube 2 and counts the number of the coins possessed in the above-mentioned coin tube 2 by counting paying out signals 37a outputted from a change paying out mechanism part 37 when the part 37 pays out the coin from the coin tube 2. An installation detecting device 41 gives an installation signal 41a to a coin detecting device 42 and a presetting device 43 when a coin tube main body 1 is installed in a coin mechanism 16, and a switch 38 is switched from OFF to ON. A control part 45 controls respective parts of an automatic vending machine including the change paying out mechanism part 37 based on the number of the possessed coins counted by the counter 40 and the detected signal of the detecting device 42, and when the coin tube main body 1 is incompletely installed into the coin mechanism 16, and when the switch 38 is OF, the control part 45 stops control action for the automatic vending machine.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a device for counting the number of held coins of a coin mechanism equipped with a cassette type coin tube.

(B) Conventional Technology A coin mechanism arranged in a vending machine and performing operations related to coin processing is provided with a coin tube for holding coins for change. Cassette-type coin tubes have been known in the past, in which the coin tube body is detachable from the coin mechanism in order to easily replenish change and perform maintenance and inspection of the coin dispensing mechanism. . To detect the number of coins held in the coin tube, a counter is provided, and the counter adds and counts the number of coins inserted into the coin tube, and subtracts and counts the number of coins paid out from the tube. However, in the case of the above-mentioned cassette type, if the coin tube is removed and coins are collected or replenished manually, the increase or decrease in the number of coins held will not be counted and the counter will have to be removed. Because the previous contents are retained, there is a problem that causes an excess or deficiency in counting the number of coins held.

Therefore, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-27945, a detection means is provided to detect whether or not the coin tube is attached to a predetermined position. Alternatively, the installation may include a configuration in which the contents of a counter that counts the number of coins held are initially set to a predetermined value depending on at least one of the times.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention According to the above-mentioned prior art, when removing the coin tube (
or at the time of installation), set the contents of the counter to the initial membrane/
Therefore, when the number of coins held in the tube changes to an appropriate value other than "0" or "O" due to coin collection after removing the coin tube (and subsequent manual replenishment) Since the contents of the counter are set to a certain initial value, the number of coins held in the coin tube after that can be effectively detected.

However, in this conventional technology, when removing or attaching a coin tube, the counter must be preset to a predetermined value, so if any work other than adjusting the number of coins held in the coin tube to this predetermined value is performed, the counter will count the coins. This will cause a discrepancy in the number of coins held. For example, when installing a coin tube, if the contents of the counter are sometimes set to "10", if you collect all the coins when you remove the coin tube and reinstall it, the number of coins held will be "0". Despite this, the number of counters held is “
10".Also, when the coin tube is removed, the coins are not collected or replenished, and the coin tube is reattached, the counter will display an incorrect value even though it was counting the correct number of coins. There is an inconvenience that it is preset to .

Therefore, the present invention is capable of counting the number of coins held by determining whether or not there are coins in the coin tube when the coin tube is attached, and thereby determining whether or not to preset the counter and, if presetting, the value. It provides equipment.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the device for counting the number of held coins in a coin mechanism according to the present invention includes a mounting detection device that detects the mounting of a coin tube on the coin mechanism, and a mounting detection device for detecting the mounting of a coin tube on the coin mechanism. a counter that counts the number of coins held by adding up the number of coins introduced into the tube and subtracting the number of coins paid out from the coin tube; and a state in which the coin tube is attached to the coin mechanism. a coin detection device that detects the presence or absence of a coin in the coin tube; a preset device that presets the counter based on a mounting signal generated in the mounting detection device and a force detected by the coin detection device to detect the presence or absence of a coin; The presetting device sets the contents of the counter to a predetermined value when the output of the coin detection device changes from a signal indicating the absence of a coin to a signal indicating the presence of a coin after the generation of the attachment signal. The contents of the counter are cleared when the coin detection device outputs a signal indicating the absence of a coin after the coin detection device generates the attachment signal.

(*) When the coin tube is removed from the coin mechanism and reattached after all coins have been collected, and the attachment detection device outputs an attachment signal, the preset device detects when the coin detection device detects that there are no coins. Clear the contents of the counter to output the signal shown. In addition, when the coin tube is removed from the coin mechanism and reattached after being replenished with coins to the specified number of coins, the output of the coin detection device will indicate the absence of coins before and after the attachment detection device outputs the attachment signal. In order to switch from the signal indicating the presence of coins to the signal indicating the presence of coins, the presetting device presets the counter to a predetermined value corresponding to the prescribed number of coins held. If the coin tube is removed from the coin mechanism but is not refilled or recovered, and the coin tube is reattached with the coin still present, the presetting device will not act on the counter; The counting contents corresponding to the number of tubes held will be retained as they are.

(f) Example Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a coin tube main body 1 consists of a plurality of coin storage coin tubes 2 having openings at the upper and lower ends, each of which stores coins of different denominations. These tubes 2 are arranged side by side and integrally formed.

At the bottom of the coin tube main body 1, there is provided a coin holder 4 which can be opened and closed using a pair of left and right pins 3, 3 attached to the front side of the lower part of both sides as a fulcrum. This coin receiver can store a predetermined number of coins M in the stand 4.

The coin receiver has locking pieces 5a and 6 on the left and right sides of the back surface of the stand 4.
A pair of hooks 5 facing each other with a facing inward,
6 is installed.

Further, at the bottom of the back of the coin tube main body 1, a pair of left and right hook levers 7.8, which have locking pieces 7a, 8a in the shape of an abbreviated character facing outward at the tips, are attached to plate spring washers 9, 1.
It is installed using 0 etc. By engaging the locking pieces 7a and 8a of the hook levers 7.8 made of elastic members with the locking pieces 5a and 6a of the hooks 5 and 6, respectively, the coin receiver is normally placed in the state where the base 4 is closed. can be kept in. When opening the coin tray 4, please use the second coin tray.
This is done by pushing and bending the hook lever 7.8 of the elastic member inward as shown by the arrow in the figure to release the engagement with the hooks 5, 6.

Since the coin receiver is provided with a stand 4 at the bottom of the coin tube body 1 and the entire base can be opened and closed, dirt on the base due to coins can be easily cleaned by opening the coin receiver's stand 4. .

In addition, by providing the coin receiver with a stand 4, coins can be taken out from the bottom of the coin tube main body 1, improving coin collection efficiency and allowing the necessary amount of coins to be taken out in the coin holding tube 2. be able to.

Incidentally, in the coin receiver, an opening 11 for dispensing change is formed at the lower part of the back of the stand 4 at a position below each of the coin holding tubes 2, and the coin receiver has a change dispensing mechanism at the bottom of the stand 4. A groove 12 is formed in the front-rear direction so that the can be operated. To dispense the coins held in the coin tube body 1, the change dispensing plate 13 shown in FIG. The coins located at the bottom of the platform 4 can be pushed out by the change dispensing plate 13 and dispensed from the opening 11 having a height equal to the coin path.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the coin detection device 42 detects whether there are coins in the coin tube 2, that is, whether a predetermined number of coins are held in the coin tray 4. I will explain. Here, the predetermined number of sheets is
For example, if prices are set in 10 yen increments, if at least 90 yen of change is left in the coin tray 4 for each 100 yen inserted, the coin receiver can be prepared for the next sale, so the minimum number of change is This corresponds to at least 9 pieces.

The coin tray 4 only needs to be able to store coins slightly larger than the minimum number of change.

The coin receiver closed at the bottom of the coin tube body 1 has a through hole 21 bored in the rear wall surface of the stand 4 at a coin holding position corresponding to the predetermined number of coins. Also slider 22
The coin tubes approach or retreat in two directions of a plurality of coin tubes arranged in parallel by the action of a rotor 30 (not shown) that converts rotational motion of a gear motor into linear motion. Further, the driving force of the rotor 30 is transmitted to the change dispensing plate 13 via a connecting member 31.

The detection member 25 has a through hole 2 drilled in the wall of the coin tray 4.
1, the coin receiver appears on and disappears from the stand 4.

The detection member 25 has a base portion locked in the slider 22 and is supported by a spring. and slider 2
2 includes a switch energized by a detection member 25. When the slider 22 approaches the coin tube main body 1, the detection member 25 moves into the platform 4, and when there is a coin in the platform 4, the detection member 25 comes into contact with the coin, and due to this reaction, the spring is activated. , the switch is turned on in the detection member 25. However, if there is no coin at the position where the detection member 25 advances, the spring will cause the detection member 25 to move forward.
Since it is not energized at 5, the switch is ONt,
do not have. By determining whether the switch is ON or OFF when the slider 22 is brought close to the coin tube body 1 in this manner, the presence or absence of a predetermined number of coins in the coin tube 2 can be accurately detected.

Next, a mechanism for making the coin tube main body 1 detachable from a coin mechanism that performs all operations related to coin handling in a vending machine will be explained with reference to FIG.

A pair of upper and lower bosses 14 and 15 are protruded from the lower portions of both side walls of the coin tube body 1, respectively. Also, on both sides of the housing of the coin mechanism 16,
Fitting grooves 17 and 18 are cut out respectively, and the bosses 14 and 15 of the coin tube body 1 are inserted into these fitting grooves 1.
The coin tube main body 1 can be attached to and detached from the coin mechanism 16 by fitting the coin tube body 1 to the coin mechanism 16 or by unfitting the coin tube body 1 to the coin mechanism 16. The coin mechanism 16 is provided with a switch 38 on the surface facing the attached coin tube body 1, and a protrusion 39 on the back side of the coin tube body 1 that engages with this switch when attached. Coin mechanism 16 for body 1
The switch 38 is turned on when the camera is attached to the camera.

Furthermore, the coin mechanism 16 has one coin receiving slot 3 at the top.
5. A coin discriminating section 36, a change dispensing mechanism section 37, etc. are provided at the bottom. Each coin tube 2 of the coin tube main body 1 can be automatically replenished after an inserted coin is discriminated by a coin discriminating section 36.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of an embodiment for achieving the operation of counting the number of held coins in the coin mechanism 16 having the above configuration. A counter 40 is provided for each coin tube 2, but only one is shown as a representative in this figure. The counter 40 adds and counts the input signal 44a generated in the input coin detector 44 when a coin is introduced into the corresponding coin tube 2, and the change dispensing mechanism section 37 dispenses the coin from the coin tube 2. Payout signal 37a output when
By counting , the number of coins held in the coin tube 2 is counted. The attachment detection device 41 provides an attachment signal 41a to the coin detection device 42 and the preset device 43 when the coin tube body 1 is attached to the coin mechanism 16 and the switch 38 is switched from OFF to ON. Consists of Pipe Lake. The coin detection device 42 is driven by the input of this attachment signal 41a to perform a coin detection operation in the coin tube 2.
5 to perform appropriate coin detection operations. The control unit 45 controls each part of the vending machine including the change dispensing mechanism 37 based on the number of coins held by the counter 40 and the detection signal from the coin detection device 42.
When the coin tube body 1 is not fully attached to the coin mechanism 16 and the switch 3B is OFF, the control operation of the vending machine is stopped. The preset device 43 receives the mounting signal 4
When 1a is input, the preset of the counter 40 is controlled according to the presence or absence of a coin in the coin tube 2 as indicated by the coin detection device 42.

The presetting device 43 detects the counter 4 when the output of the coin detection device 42 changes from a signal indicating the absence of a coin to a signal indicating the presence of a coin after the generation of the attachment signal 41a.
0 is reset to "10", and the counter 40 is cleared when the coin detection device 42 outputs a signal indicating the absence of a coin after the attachment signal 41a is generated. Therefore, the presetting device 43 does not preset the counter 40 if the coin detection device 42 does not continuously output a signal indicating the presence of coins before and after the generation of the attachment signal 41a, and the counter 40 does not count at that time. You will keep the same number of coins you have.

FIG. 7 shows a specific example of the presetting device 43, in which the coin detection device 42 outputs a signal 4 indicating the absence of coins.
2a is introduced into the set end S of the flip-flop 46,
Also, the signal 42b indicating the presence of coins is sent to the delay circuit 47.
It can be introduced into the reset terminal R of the flip-flop 46 through the . AND gate 48 is mounting signal 41a5 signal 42b
When a logical product is obtained with the output of the flip-flop 46 and the output of the flip-flop 46, a signal is given to the preset data output circuit 49. Upon input of this signal, the preset data output circuit 49 sets 110'' in the counter 40 as preset data. The AND gate 50 outputs a clear signal to the counter 40 when a logical product is obtained between the mounting signal 41a and the signal 42a. Such a preset device 43 is controlled by a control section 45.
drives the fill detection device 42 as appropriate to detect the presence or absence of coins in the coin tube 2, and stores this in the flip-flop 46. Therefore, immediately after the coin tube main body 1 is removed from the coin mechanism 16 and reinstalled, the flip-flop 46 holds data indicating the presence or absence of coins in the coin tube 2 before installation.

When the coin detection device 42 is driven by a mounting signal 41a generated by mounting the coin tube main body 1, it outputs a signal 42a or a signal 42b depending on the presence or absence of a coin. When the signal 42a is output, a clear signal is generated at the AND gate 50 and the counter 40 is cleared. When the signal 42b is output, the AND gate 48 receives the signal, and the counter 40 is preset to "10" by the preset data output circuit 49.

This signal 42b is input to the reset terminal of the flip-flop 46 after the delay time by the delay circuit 47 has elapsed.
As a result, the flip-flop is reversed and it is stored that the coin tube 2 has a coin after the coin tube main body 1 is attached. The attachment detection device 41 is set so that the coin detection device 42 is driven to output the attachment signal 41a for a period sufficient to detect the presence or absence of a coin in the coin tube 2.

(g) Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, in order to detect the presence or absence of coins in the tube and control the preset of the counter when the coin tube is attached, the coins are detected when the coin tube is replenished with coins and when the coins are collected. It is possible to deal with any of these cases, and if the counter is neither replenished nor collected, the contents of the counter can be held as they are without being changed. Therefore, even if the configuration is such that multiple coin tubes are arranged side by side and integrated, and the replenishment or collection process is different for each coin tube when removed, each counter will be An appropriate initial value can be set, increasing the degree of freedom in use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a side view of the cassette type coin tube, Fig. 2 is a rear view of the cassette type coin tube, Fig. 3 is a sectional view for explaining the structure of the coin detection device, Fig. 4 is its bottom view, Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the removal operation of the coin tube main body, Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the coin holding number counting device, and Fig. 7 is a diagram specifically showing the configuration of the presetting device. It is. 2... Coin tube, 16... Coin mechanism, 40... Counter, 41... Attachment detection device, 42... Coin detection device, 43... Preset device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a coin mechanism in which a coin tube for storing coins having openings at the upper and lower ends is detachably attached to the coin mechanism, an attachment detection device for detecting attachment of the coin tube to the coin mechanism; a counter that counts the number of coins held by adding the number of coins introduced into the coin tube and subtracting the number of coins paid out from the coin tube; It consists of a coin detection device that detects the presence or absence of a coin in the coin tube, and a preset device that presets the counter based on a mounting signal generated by the mounting detection device and the ability of the coin detection device to detect the presence or absence of a coin. , the presetting device presets the contents of the counter to a predetermined value when the output of the coin detection device changes from a signal indicating the absence of a coin to a signal indicating the presence of a coin after the generation of the attachment signal; A device for counting the number of held coins with a coin mechanism, wherein the contents of the counter are cleared when the coin detection device outputs a signal indicating the absence of coins after the generation of the attachment signal.