JPH0444794B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin processing device in a vending machine or the like, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a coin processing device for a vending machine or the like. The present invention relates to an improvement in a coin processing device having a pool section for temporarily pooling the collected coins until the first coin for the next transaction is inserted.

Prior art and its problems A coin processing device 1 in a vending machine or the like as shown in FIG. A sorting unit 5 having type sorting and denomination passages 5a, 5b, and 5c temporarily stores sorted coins 3 until the first coin for the next transaction is inserted, and also issues a sales cancellation command. A pool section 7 that returns the coins to the tray 6 when the coins are collected, a storage section 8 that temporarily stores the coins from the pool section 7 as change, and a belt conveyor that conveys the coins from the storage section 8 to the tray 6 as change. A transport section 9, a collection section 10 for finally collecting coins, and the like are provided.

By the way, as shown in FIG. 2, the pool part 7 has storage parts 7a, 7b, and 7c according to the denominations in the pool block 7A, and the coins 3 are stored under each storage chute 7f as needed. , 7g, 7h and a bottom plate 7B for leading out to the return side chutes 7p, 7q, 7r. Pool block 7A
has partition plates 7M and 7N shown in FIG. 4 on the left and right,
The bottom plate 7B protrudes through the substantially semicircular notches 11 of the partition plates 7M and 7N, and
Outside the frame 7C, as shown in FIG. 5, the disk plate 12 is rotated by a bottom plate rotation motor 14 via a drive shaft 13 using one of the upper corners 11a of the cutout portions 11 as a branch. It's becoming like that. This bottom plate 7B temporarily stores the coins used for the previous transaction until the first coin for the next transaction (hereinafter referred to as the first coin) is inserted into the coin insertion section 2. The limit switch SW1 is in a horizontal state as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. . In this state, the detector 16 installed immediately after the coin input section 2 shown in FIG.
However, when it detects that the first effect has been applied, the bottom plate rotation motor 14 receives that signal and rotates the disk plate 12 in the direction of arrow 17 (see Figure 5), and the roller rotatably supported at the tip thereof rotates. 12a, the bottom plate 7B is rotated to open the storage chutes 7f, 7g, and 7h. At this time, disk plate 1
2 comes into contact with the limit switch SW2, which activates and stops the power supply to the bottom plate rotation motor 14, and the recess 15 carved in the disc plate 12.
The protrusion 18a of the leaf spring 18 attached to the frame 7C engages with the protrusion 18a to prevent movement of the bottom plate 7B. Then, after a time sufficient for the coins to fall into the storage chute 7f, 7g, 7h, which is measured by a timer (not shown), the bottom plate rotation motor 14 is driven in the opposite direction and the coin falls into the storage chute 7f, 7g, 7.
Rotate the disk plate 12 in the opposite direction of the arrow 17 to close the h. Then, the engagement between the recess 15 of the disk plate 12 and the plate spring 18 is controlled by the bottom plate rotation motor 14.
is released by the rotational force of the disc plate 1.
The disk plate 12 is rotated until the roller 12b, which is rotatably supported by the disk plate 2, comes into contact with the upper end of the bottom plate 7B, and is further rotated until the bottom plate 7B becomes horizontal. When the limit switch SW1 detects that the recess 15 has returned to the home position, the power supply to the bottom plate rotation motor 14 is stopped, and the disk plate 12 is locked by a mechanical locking means similar to the leaf spring 18 (not shown). Depending on the bottom plate 7
B remains horizontal. Therefore, preparations for temporarily storing the first coin and subsequent coins through the coin verification section 4 and the sorting section 5 are completed.

However, once in the pool section, the motor for rotating the bottom plate is stopped while the storage chute or the return chute is in a standby state, so the mechanism such as the leaf spring that maintains the bottom plate in an inclined state is Not only does this require a locking means, which complicates the structure, but when the motor is operated at high speed in order to quickly return the bottom plate to its original position, the disk plate may overrun. In addition, as is known from the above-mentioned operation, the limit switch indicates that the bottom plate has returned to the horizontal position and the disk plate has returned to its home position.
Since it takes time for SW1 to detect the coins, an additional coin (not shown) is placed near the coin verification unit to prevent the inserted coins from flowing into the pool and being stored before the bottom plate returns to the horizontal position. However, there was a drawback that a temporary storage section or the like had to be provided in the coin processing device, which had a small space.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the problems of the pool section and the need to provide a temporary storage section in such conventional coin processing devices. Although it has a temporary pool part that allows the bottom plate to quickly recover, it does not provide an additional temporary storage part so that even if the bottom plate of the pool part does not return, the inserted coins will not flow into the pool part. The purpose is to provide a coin processing device.

Structure and Effects of the Invention The present invention includes a detector that detects an inserted coin;
A coin verification unit that determines the authenticity and type of coins inserted; a storage unit that stacks and temporarily holds the coins that have passed through the verification unit; and a storage unit provided below the storage unit that stores or returns the held coins. A chute for storage and return, which is provided between the storage section and the chute for storage and return, holds coins on its upper surface in a horizontal state, and holds coins by rotating in different directions. Or a bottom plate that opens the bottom of the storage section to be loaded into a return chute, and is arranged on the side of the storage section and rotates in the first or second direction to rotate the bottom plate in the storage direction or the return direction, respectively. motor,
A coin processing device comprising: a pool portion having a pool portion; It has a stopper that stops the bottom plate in the open position, and a spring that constantly biases the bottom plate in a direction that restricts the rotation of the bottom plate.It also has a stopper that stops the bottom plate in the open position, and a spring that constantly biases the bottom plate in a direction that restricts the rotation of the bottom plate. starts driving the motor in the first direction based on the coin return signal, or starts driving the motor in the second direction based on the coin return signal, and the bottom plate rotates to a position where it is stopped by a stopper. and a return path for returning the inserted coins before introducing them into the pool section. The present invention is characterized by comprising a coin return means that opens the return passage when the insertion of the first coin is detected by a detector when the bottom plate is rotated.

According to the present invention having such characteristics, the bottom plate rotation motor is kept energized while opening the storage chute or the return side chute to prevent the bottom plate from restoring. Then, when closing the storage chute or the return chute from the state where the bottom plate is tilted, the power supply to the bottom plate rotation motor is stopped and the spring allows the motor to return immediately, thereby speeding up the operation of the pool part. Therefore, the possibility that the first coin of the next transaction will flow into the pool section is reduced. However, when the bottom plate is not restored horizontally, even if coins are inserted, they can be immediately returned via the return path so that the coins do not flow into the pool. As a result, there is no need to provide a temporary storage section in a coin processing device with a narrow space, and the coin processing device can have a simplified mechanical structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a motor control means that operates the pool portion 7 to rotate the bottom plate 7B in order to sort the coins inserted into the storage side and the return side. This motor control circuit 20 is mounted outside the frame 7C, for example, as shown in FIG.
The motor control circuit 20 receives the first coin input signal and moves the bottom plate 7B to the stopper 2 via the disk plate 12.
A limit switch that operates at a position where the bottom plate 7B stops, energizing the bottom plate rotation motor 14, which is rotated until it makes contact with the bottom plate 7B and is energized during the contact.
It receives a signal from SW2 and stops after a desired delay time. To be more specific, in FIG. 6, 22 is an input terminal that receives a signal indicating that the first coin has been inserted from the detector 16 provided immediately after the coin input slot 2 shown in FIG. 1, and 23 is an input terminal whose bottom plate 7B is a limit switch. 25 is an input terminal that receives a signal when it comes into contact with SW2; 24 is an input terminal that receives a signal when a return button (not shown) is pressed and a return command is issued;
The coin 3 in the pool section 7 is sent to the return chute 7.
26 and 27 are input terminals that receive a signal when the bottom plate 7B comes into contact with the limit switch SW3 when coins are returned to the receiving tray 6 via pins 7f, 7q, and 7r. A delay circuit outputs a signal to the shoots 7p, 7q, and 7r to stop energizing the bottom plate rotation motor 14 after a sufficient time; 28 and 29 are input terminals 22 and delay circuits 26, and input terminals 24 and delay circuits; This is an RS type flip-flop which outputs a signal for controlling the drive of the bottom plate rotation motor 14 via the respective drivers 30 and 31 based on the signal from the bottom plate rotation motor 14. In addition to such a motor control means, as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. A spring 32 is provided that constantly biases the bottom plate 7B in a direction in which the storage chute 7B closes the storage chute 7f, 7g, 7h and the return chute 7p, 7q, 7r. Further, a return section control circuit 33 is also mounted together with the motor control circuit 20 mounted outside the frame 7C shown in FIG. Return part control circuit 3
3 is a sorting unit 5 for returning the inserted coins based on a control signal from the central processing control circuit 35.
The counterfeit currency passage 5d is opened and the counterfeit currency is returned to the receiving tray 6.

The initial state of a coin processing device with such a configuration is as follows.
In order to temporarily store the coins 3 used in the previous transaction in each storage section 7a, 7b, 7c of the pool section 7, the bottom plate 7B is held horizontally as shown by the solid line in FIG. , it is in a state where it is detected that the limit switch SW1 is at the home position of the disk plate 12. When the coin 3 for the next commodity transaction is inserted from the coin input unit 2 and the detector 16 detects the first coin, the signal shown in FIG. The signal is input to S of the RS type flip-flop through terminal 22, and the output signal from Q drives the bottom plate rotating motor 14 via driver 30 as shown in FIG. 10d. At this time, the disk plate 12 rotates against the spring 32 shown in FIG. 8 to the position shown by the solid line in FIG. When the bottom plate 7B is rotated with the rotation of the disk plate 12 until it comes into contact with the stopper 21, the disk plate 12 is moved to the limit switch SW2.
Activate. When the signal shown in FIG. 10b from the limit switch SW2 is input to the delay circuit 26 via the input terminal 23, the delay circuit 26 transfers all the coins 3 in the storage sections 7a, 7b, 7c to the storage chute 7f, 7g and 7h, the signal shown in FIG. 10c is applied to the R input terminal of the RS type flip-flop 28, and the RS type flip-flop 28 is reset. The bottom plate rotation motor 1 provides rotational force to the disk plate 12 in order to maintain the pressure of the bottom plate 7B against the stopper 21.
The driver 30 outputs a signal to stop the energization of 4 as shown in FIG. 10d. When the power supply to the bottom plate rotation motor 14 is stopped, the force to press the bottom plate 7B against the stopper 21 is lost, so the bottom plate 7B is immediately turned off.
B is the upper corner 1 of the notch 11 due to the spring 32.
Rotate with 1a as a branch, upper end 11 of notch 11
b and stops, restoring to the horizontal state, and becomes in a state where it can store the first coin and subsequent coins inserted through the slot 2. Also, once the pool part 7
When the return button is pressed and the first coin is inserted after the coin 3 is stored in 14 is controlled, and the pool section 7 temporarily operates. Such an operation is faster than the drive of the bottom plate rotating motor 14 as in the conventional pool section.
Restoration is done extremely quickly. Therefore, the first coin and subsequent coins are quickly temporarily stored in the pool section 7, and sales transactions of products and tickets are smoothly carried out.

In this way, the pool section 7 is designed to operate quickly, but sometimes its operation is delayed, and once an unexpected accident occurs in the pool section 7,
If the bottom plate 7B is not restored to the horizontal state, the return unit control circuit 33 operates. That is, once the storage chute 7f, 7 of the pool part 7
g, 4h or return chute 7p, 7q, 7r
When the first coin is inserted while the is open,
The limit switch SW1 of the motor control circuit 20 detects that these chute are open,
The sorting section control circuit 37 energizes the solenoid 5f that opens and closes the shutter 5e of the counterfeit currency passage 5d of the sorting section 5. At this time, the coin verification unit 4
When a signal indicating that the coin 3 is a genuine coin is also input, the solenoid 5f is driven based on both signals, the shutter 5e is operated to return the coin 3, and the counterfeit coin passage 5d is opened. The entire operation including this operation will be explained as follows based on the flowchart of FIG. 11 and the overall control diagram of FIG. 12.
When the first coin is inserted (step 51), the detector 16 installed immediately after the coin input section 2 is activated, and the bottom plate is rotated through the coin detection control circuit 34 and the central processing control circuit 35 that controls the whole. The operating motor 14 is driven by the motor control circuit 20, and the coins held in the pool section 7 are led out and stored in the storage chutes 7f, 7g, and 7h (step 52). Next, the coin verification section 4 determines whether the coin is genuine or false (step 53). Then, when the genuine coin signal is output (step 54), if the bottom plate 7B of the pool section 7 has been restored, the limit switch SW1 is activated (step 5).
5), these two signals are input to the distribution unit control circuit 37 via the return unit control circuit 33, and the distribution unit 5
(step 56), each solenoid 5
coins g and 5h open their respective shutters 5p and 5q, and the coins are once pooled in each storage section 7a, 7b, 7c of the pool section 7 via denomination passages 5a, 5b, 5c. However, if the bottom plate 7B of the pool section 7 is not restored, the limit switch
Since SW1 is not activated (step 55),
The solenoid 5f is driven by the return unit control circuit 33, opens the shutter 5e, opens the counterfeit coin passage 5d, and returns the coin (step 57). In addition,
If the inserted coin is a counterfeit coin, the coin verification unit control circuit 3
When the genuine coin signal is not output from 6 (step 54), the solenoid 5f is similarly driven to return the coin (step 57).

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an overall schematic diagram of the coin processing device, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the pool means, Fig. 3 is a plan view of the pool means, and Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in Fig. 3. , FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 3, and FIG.
Figure 7 is a block diagram of the motor control means of the present invention.
9 to 9 are cross-sectional views showing the rotation of the bottom plate of the pool section and the control structure of the present invention, FIG. 10 is a control signal diagram for the motor control means, and FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart for processing coins, and is a conceptual diagram of control for processing coins. 1... Coin processing device, 3... Coin, 4... Coin verification department, 5... Sorting department, 5d... Counterfeit coin passage, 7...
Once the pool part, 7B...bottom plate, 7f, 7g, 7h
... Storage side chute, 7p, 7q, 7r ... Return side chute, 12 ... Disc plate, 14 ... Bottom plate rotation motor, 20 ... Motor control circuit, 21 ...
...Stopper, 32...Spring, 33...Return section control circuit, SW1, SW2, SW3...Limit switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A detector for detecting inserted coins, a coin verification unit for determining the authenticity and type of the inserted coins, and a stack of coins that have passed through the coin verification unit for temporary storage. a storage section for storage, a storage and return chute provided below the storage section for storing or returning held coins;
provided between the storage unit and the storage and return chute, and holds coins on its upper surface in a horizontal state;
a bottom plate that opens the bottom of the storage section by rotating in different directions so that the held coins can be thrown into the storage chute or the return chute, respectively;
a pool part having a motor disposed on a side of the storage part and rotating in a first or second direction to rotate the bottom plate in the storage direction or the return direction, respectively;
In the coin processing device, the pool section is once located at a position where the bottom surface of the storage section is opened to either of the chute when the bottom plate is rotated to the storage chute or the return chute by the drive of the motor. a stopper that stops the bottom plate at a stopper, and a spring that constantly biases the bottom plate in a direction that restricts the rotation of the bottom plate; or starts driving the motor in the second direction based on the coin return signal, and the bottom plate is moved to a position where it is stopped by the stopper. a motor control means for stopping the drive of the motor after a time sufficient for the retained coins to be delivered to the storage chute or the return chute after being rotated; and to return the inserted coins before introducing them into the pool section. A coin processing device comprising: a coin return passage that opens the return passage when the detector detects insertion of a first coin when the bottom plate rotates.