JPH0366712B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a coin sorting device, and more particularly to a coin sorting device that sorts coins with high precision and at high speed based on uneven patterns on the front or back surfaces of coins. It is something.

[Conventional technology]

Generally, coin counters and sorting machines sort coins by checking the outer diameter, thickness, and weight of the coins, and by simply determining the material. Also, Tokukai Akira
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 53-83796, there is also a means for determining the authenticity of a coin by detecting the presence or absence of irregularities or holes on the surface of the coin along the diameter direction of the coin.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Since the above-mentioned general conventional technology selects coins only based on macro information, it is not possible to select counterfeit coins, foreign coins, etc. with this method alone. Therefore, since the reliability of the selection is low when using any of the selection means alone, it is necessary to increase the reliability of the selection by combining these means. Further, with the structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 53-83796, it is not possible to distinguish between domestic and foreign coins and altered coins, which have different uneven patterns. In order to sort these coins, a large number of signals corresponding to the uneven patterns along the diameter of each type of genuine coin, which serve as a criterion for sorting, are required, which slows down the sorting speed and complicates the sorting mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a coin sorting device that can sort a wide variety of coins with high precision and high speed.

[Means for solving problems]

The above purpose is to detect the irregularities of the coin's unique pattern formed on the surface of the coin as coin-specific information in the diametrical direction of the coin without contacting the detected surface, and to detect the coin's authenticity. This is achieved by performing coin sorting.

[Effect]

The coin loaded in the coin guiding means and the detection means for detecting the coin in the diametrical direction of the surface of the coin having an uneven pattern unique to the coin are configured to move relative to each other in the diametrical direction of the coin surface, and the detection means , the unevenness of the surface pattern of the coin is detected in the diametrical direction of the coin surface at high speed without rotating the coin, and the coin sorting time is shortened.

[Embodiments of the invention]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the coin sorting device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of essential parts in one embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a plan view.

In this example, the detection means is fixed, whereas the coin is intended to be moved at high speed without being forced to rotate. The coin guide means 12 is
A side wall 13 made of a low-friction material, and a guide 1 that stands perpendicular to the side wall 13 and is arranged with a distance slightly larger than the thickness of a coin from the bottom portions 14 and 15.
6. A variable guide 18 that always moves the coin 1 in contact with the side wall 13 by means of a spring 17, rotates at a constant speed, and has a distance from the circumferential surface to the bottom surfaces 14 and 15 such that the coin is fed from the upstream conveyance path. A shaft 19 is attached to the side wall 13 so that the thickness is slightly smaller than the thickness of the coin 1.
It is composed of rubber rollers 21 and 22 having a high friction coefficient attached via a rubber roller 20 and a belt 23 engaged with these rubber rollers 21 and 22. The pattern detection means 9 on the coin surface is located on the bottom surface portion 14.
It is fixedly installed.

In such a configuration, the coin 1 has a low-friction side wall 13 and bottom portions 14, 15, and guides 16, 1.
8 and have a low coefficient of friction, the coin is guided by its own weight into the bottom surface 14, 15.
4 and 15 are tilted arbitrarily so that the coin can slide down, and the low-friction side wall 13 allows the coin to roll by its own weight with the point of contact with the side wall as the center of rotation, or to move by sliding on the side wall. be arranged at an arbitrary inclination. As a result, the coin 1 slides down due to its own weight, is pressed against the low-friction side wall 13 by the variable guide 18 to which a pressing force is applied clockwise by the spring 17, and maintains that state, having a high coefficient of friction. It comes into contact with the rubber rollers 21, 22 and the belt 23 and is drawn in. The drawn-in coin 1 is conveyed downstream while being in contact with the low-friction side wall 13 without being forced to rotate while being pressed against the bottom surface portion 14 having a low friction coefficient. Therefore, the surface pattern on the coin in any chord direction can be detected by the detection means 9 attached to the bottom surface portion 14 having a low coefficient of friction. In this embodiment, the bottom portion 14 is attached to a member 25 via a spring 24 to alleviate the influence of the thickness of the coin 1. A signal corresponding to the pattern on the surface of the coin detected by the detection means 9 is applied to the discrimination circuit 26. Discrimination circuit 26
compares and calculates the applied detection signal with a pre-stored reference pattern signal for genuine coins, and outputs a sorting signal. Reference numeral 27 denotes a sorting section operated by the output signal from the discrimination circuit 26. The coins that have been sorted for authenticity are sorted by the sorting section 27 into a genuine coin passage and a fake coin passage, which are not shown but are provided downstream. Note that in this embodiment, the belt 23 is not necessarily necessary, and the rubber rollers 21 and 22 alone are sufficient.

In this embodiment, two detecting means 9 are arranged shifted in the coin transport direction to more accurately detect the uneven pattern on the surface of the coin. Needless to say, the purpose of the invention can be achieved.

Next, as an example of a determination circuit, a circuit based on determination based on a pulse generation pattern of a binary signal of a coin pattern will be shown.

This determination method measures the logic "1" time, logic "0" time, and pulse generation order of the pulse waveform representing the binary coin pattern signal.
The authenticity of the coin is determined by comparing it with the pulse generation pattern of the regular coin and determining whether it matches or does not match.

FIG. 3 shows a specific example. In the figure, it is assumed that the measurement start point of the coin pattern is fixed.

The coin pattern signal Vc is converted into 2 by the binarization circuit 51.
The counter controller 52 generates gate signals (counter count times) g ₁ , g ₂ , g ₃ for measuring the cycle time of the logic level "1" and "0" of the pulse. Here, the cycle time is measured by counting constant cycle pulses from the pulse generator 53 using counters 54a, 54b, and 54c. Counters 54a, 54b, 5
4c starts counting when the gate signals g ₁ , g ₂ , g ₃ are input from the counter controller 52, and stops counting when the gate signals g ₁ , g ₂ , g ₃ turn OFF. . Each counter 54a, 54
The signals of b, 54c are sent to comparators 55a, 55b, 5
5c, it is compared with pulse number generation circuits 56a, 56b, and 56c that generate a signal (in this case, count number) indicating the pulse cycle pattern of a regular coin, and if they match, a logic level "1" is output to the AND circuit 57. Output. Comparison circuits 55a, 55
If the outputs of both b and 55c are "1", the AND circuit 57 outputs a signal indicating that the coin is true, and if they do not match, it outputs a signal indicating false.

As a result, the ON time and OFF time of the pulse waveform of the binarized coin signal and their generation order are determined.
P ₁ , P ₂ , and P ₃ can be determined. FIG. 4 shows the binary signal Pc corresponding to the coin pattern signal Vc in FIG. 3 and the controller outputs g ₁ , g ₂ , g ₃ of the counter controller 52 in correspondence.

Although the measurement of only three pulse waveforms has been described here, it is possible to measure a large number of pulse waveforms by adding as many similar circuits as necessary. Further, a microcomputer can also be used to measure the period after binarization and determine the pulse generation pattern. In this case, the pulse period can be measured from any position and stored in the memory without specifying the measurement starting point. When comparing a pulse generation pattern stored in advance, the starting point of the comparison, that is, the phase of the measured pulse waveform pattern can be arbitrarily changed.

Therefore, by repeatedly executing the determination with the phase of the input pattern shifted a certain number of times, it is possible to determine whether the input waveform pattern is true or false.
In the above description, an example of a threshold value processing method will be described as an example of a method of binarizing the coin pattern signal Vc by the binarization circuit 50.

In the threshold processing method, a comparator compares the coin pattern signal Vc and the comparison level R and converts it into a binary value.
Then, a binary signal Pc is obtained which has a logic level "1" when Vc≧R and a logic level "0" when Vc<R.

Here, the comparison level R can be determined by fixing the comparison level R to a constant value as shown in FIG. 5, or by fixing the comparison level R to the maximum value of the coin pattern signal Vc as shown in FIG. (Vc _nax ) and the minimum value (Vc _nio ) to obtain R = Vc _nax + Vc _nio /2, as shown in Figure 7, the coin pattern signal
There is a method of integrating Vc and using the average value of the integral amount S as a comparison level R (R= ^∫T / ₀ ·dt/T, where T indicates the integration time).

In each of the embodiments described above, the coin guiding means and the detecting means are configured such that the detecting means is relatively displaced in the chordal direction of the coin with respect to the target coin. As a result, discrimination based on the detection signal obtained from the detection means takes less time than conventional devices that use the uneven pattern on the surface of the coin to distinguish between authenticity, and a simple mechanism can process a large number of coins. can do.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform coin sorting on a wide variety of coins with high precision and at high speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view showing essential parts of an embodiment of the coin sorting device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, and FIG. A block diagram explaining the discrimination based on the pulse generation pattern of the digitized signal, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the correspondence of the main signals in FIG. 3, FIG.
FIGS. 6 and 7 are diagrams for explaining a method using threshold processing as an example of a binarization conversion method. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Coin, 2... Coin guide means, 9... Detection means, 13... Side wall, 14, 15... Bottom part, 2
6...Discrimination circuit, 27...Distribution section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The detection means detects the uneven pattern on the surface of the coins supplied from the coin supply side, and the coins are sorted by comparing the detection signal from the detection means with a reference signal determined in advance for genuine coins. The coin sorting device includes a coin guiding means for holding and guiding the coins supplied from the coin supplying side, and a detecting means provided on the coin guiding means, and the coin guiding means is arranged so that one side of the coin is A bottom surface portion that contacts and is provided with the detection means, a side wall portion that contacts the outer circumferential surface of the coin, and a portion facing the detection means that contacts the other surface of the coin, and the coefficient of friction is the same as that of the bottom surface portion. a conveying means that is made of a member larger than the side wall portion and conveys the coin while pressing it against the bottom surface portion; and a variable guide portion that presses the supplied coin against the side wall portion and feeds the coin into the conveyance path in this state. A coin sorting device comprising: