JPH0458076B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" The present invention relates to a coin depositing device, and in particular, it performs a differential counting process for deposited coins and a storage process for coins that have already undergone differential counting process in parallel. The present invention relates to a coin depositing device.

"Prior Art" Conventionally, a coin depositing device in a coin depositing machine, a coin depositing machine, etc. has, for example, a coin feeding mechanism that accepts a large number of deposited coins and feeds them out one by one, and a coin discriminating mechanism that discriminates the coins fed from the coin feeding mechanism. A differential counting section that performs counting, and an operator who temporarily stores the coins sent out from the differential counting section and based on the differential counting results after the differential counting process of all the coins received in the coin supply mechanism is completed. A switching and discharging mechanism is provided which selectively discharges coins toward the storage section or the return section according to an instruction as to whether the transaction is approved or not. In coin depositing machines, it is desirable to classify and store deposited coins from the standpoint of post-processing, and in circulating coin depositing and dispensing machines, it is necessary to reuse deposited coins as disbursed coins, so it is desirable to We have developed a coin depositing device that is equipped with a second coin supply mechanism and a deposit distribution path that feeds out the coins to be stored in the coins one by one again and distributes and stores them by denomination. For example, the one shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 59-158493 is well known.

"Problem to be Solved by the Invention" In this case, when coins are fed all at once from the switching and discharging mechanism to the second coin supply mechanism, the second coin supply mechanism cannot smoothly feed out the coins one by one. However, there are problems such as longer processing time and coin jamming.

Therefore, if the switching and discharging mechanism is configured with a belt conveyor and the speed is controlled so that the amount of coins sent to the second coin supply mechanism is an appropriate amount, the above problem will be solved, but this time the deposit approval If there are a large number of coins, a problem arises in that it takes a long time for the coins in the switching and discharging mechanism to run out.

The problem is that even though the previous transaction has been approved and completed, until the deposited coins for the previous transaction disappear from the switching and ejection mechanism, the deposited coins for the next transaction will be transferred to the first Even if the coins are fed into the coin supply mechanism, the problem arises that discrimination and counting cannot be performed.

Therefore, there is a problem that processing time is long when processing a plurality of transactions consecutively, resulting in poor efficiency.

The present invention effectively solves the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a coin deposit device that can improve efficiency and shorten processing time when processing a plurality of transactions in succession.

"Means for Solving the Problems" The present invention includes a coin supply mechanism that receives a large number of deposited coins and feeds them out one by one, a discrimination and counting section that performs discrimination and counting of the coins fed from the coin supply mechanism, and The coins sent out from the counter are temporarily stored, and after the differential counting process of all the coins received in the coin supply mechanism is completed, the operator instructs whether or not to approve the transaction based on the differential counting results. a switching and discharging mechanism that selectively releases coins toward the storage section or the return section; and a second mechanism that receives the coins ejected from the switching and discharging mechanism toward the storage section in accordance with the transaction approval instruction and sends out the coins one by one again. In a coin deposit device comprising a coin supply mechanism and a deposit distribution path that distributes and stores coins sent out from the second coin supply mechanism according to denomination, the switching and discharging mechanism is capable of loading and transporting coins. one end of the belt conveyor is connected to the second coin supply mechanism and the other end is connected to the return section, and at least the vicinity of the one end is arranged at an upward slope toward the second coin supply mechanism. The coins sent out from the discrimination and counting section are temporarily stored between the discrimination and counting section and the switching and discharging mechanism, and by opening the discharging gate, the temporarily stored coins are transferred to the switching and discharging mechanism. It is characterized by having a temporary storage part with a chute structure that can be dropped and released.

"Function" The coin depositing device of the present invention performs differential counting processing in which coins are differentially counted and stored in the temporary storage section by making it possible to shut off the discrimination counting section and the switching discharge mechanism by the temporary storage section. Processing after performing the differential counting process can be performed in parallel.
Since the temporary storage section is configured as a chute that opens and closes the release gate, it is possible to instantly release the stored coins and prepare for the next transaction. In addition, since the switching and discharging mechanism is constituted by a belt conveyor, and at least one end thereof is disposed on an upward slope toward the second coin supply mechanism, the coins that fall all at once from the temporary storage section and pile up are piled up. is fed into the second coin supply mechanism,
As the coins at the top of the pile slide down along the slope of the conveyor, the pile is conveyed while collapsing, and as a result, the coins can be fed into the second coin supply mechanism little by little. Furthermore, by changing the direction of conveyance, the item can be conveyed to either the storage section or the return section.

"Example" Hereinafter, a description will be given based on an example in which the coin depositing device of the present invention is applied to a circulating coin depositing and dispensing machine.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention, and the circulating coin depositing and dispensing machine of this embodiment has a transaction port on the top of the machine for transferring coins to and from the operator. 1, the upper part of which is closed by a shutter 1a that can be opened and closed. The transaction port 1 is provided with an inlet 2 for taking in deposited coins into the machine, and an inlet 3 for receiving coins sent out from the machine. is provided with a deposit gate 4 that can be opened and closed.

A deposit transport path 5 is provided below the intake port 2 for transporting coins dropped when the deposit gate 4 is opened. The deposit conveyance path 5 includes a roll 6a that conveys the coins placed thereon from right to left in FIG. 1 and disperses the coins one by one.
It is composed of a conveyor belt 6 having sensor 7
A is provided. A first coin supply mechanism 8 is provided below the chute 7 to once receive deposited coins and feed them out one by one. This coin supply mechanism 8 is, for example, a hopper, a rotary disk, a deformed coin removal mechanism, etc. applied to "Removal mechanism for deformed coins, etc. in a coin supply device" of Utility Application No. 195104/1988, which the present applicant previously filed. The differentiating and counting unit 10 scoops up coins of 9th grade and received through the hopper one by one using a rotating disk.
It is now being sent to

The differential counting section 10 includes a differential counting path 1 in an inclined state.
While rolling the coin along 1, the magnetic sensor,
Known differential counting mechanism 1 using photo sensor etc.
2, and the coins determined to be acceptable as a result of the discrimination are sent out from the tip of the discrimination and counting path 11 (the right end in FIG. 1) to the temporary storage section 13. It's summery.
Further, in the middle of the discrimination counting path 11, there is provided a resist gate 14 for allowing the coins to be transferred to fall. Coins that pass 12 are Reject Gate 1
It operates after the time required to reach 4) and has a function to exclude unacceptable coins. Further, the first coin supply mechanism 8 and the differential counting section 10
Below the first coin supply mechanism 8, there is an inclined rigid coin that guides deformed coins etc. removed from the first coin supply mechanism 8 or reject coins dropped from the discrimination counter path 11 by the reject gate 14 to the dispensing conveyance mechanism 15. An ectoshoot 16 is provided.

On the other hand, the temporary storage section 13
Inclined plate 18 on which coins dropped from the tip are placed.
A coin ejection opening 19 is provided between the inclined plate 18 and the inclined plate 18, which is vertically rotatable above the lower end of the inclined plate 18.
It has a chute configuration consisting of a discharge gate 20 that can be opened and closed, and by rotating the discharge gate 20 as shown by the chain line to open the discharge port 19, the coins on the inclined plate 18 are moved along the slope. It is designed so that it is dropped into a switching and discharging mechanism 21 below.

The switching and discharging mechanism 21 is a belt conveyor having a horizontal conveyance section 22 and an inclined conveyance section 23, and the coins fed from the temporary storage section 13 are placed on the horizontal conveyance section 22 while the belt conveyor is in a stopped state. By selectively switching the rotation direction of the belt conveyor between the forward rotation direction and the reverse rotation direction, coins are transferred from the inclined conveyance section 23 to the second coin supply mechanism 24 on the right side in FIG.
Alternatively, the coins are transported from the horizontal transport section 22 to the left dispensing transport mechanism 15. Further, a return gate 26 is vertically rotatably provided above the end of the horizontal conveyance section 22, and the return gate 26 is rotated when discharging coins from the switching discharge mechanism 21 to the dispensing conveyance mechanism 15. The coins are allowed to pass through the temporary storage section 1.
3 to the stopped switching and discharging mechanism 21, and when coins fed into the switching and discharging mechanism 21 are being transported to the second coin supply mechanism 24, the return gate 26 closes the horizontal transport section 22. The end portion is closed to prevent coins from falling into the dispensing conveyance mechanism 15.

Further, the coins fed into the second coin supply mechanism 24 are scooped up one by one by a mechanism similar to the first coin supply mechanism 8 and fed into the horizontal deposit distribution path 28. This deposit distribution route 2
8, while transporting the coin from right to left in Figure 1,
A distribution discrimination mechanism 29 installed near the entrance detects coins passing through the deposit distribution path 28 and magnetically or optically discriminates the coin denomination. By selectively opening and closing the sorting gates 30A to 30F, coin accumulation tubes 31A to 31 provided below the sorting gates 30A to 30F, respectively, can be opened and closed.
Coins are dropped into F according to their denominations and stored in a pile. Further, a sorting gate 30 is provided at the front end of the deposit distribution path 28 in the conveyance direction.
G is provided, and by operating the sorting gate 30G, each of the coin accumulation cylinders 31A to 3
Coins that cannot be collected on the 1st floor are sent to a recycling box 32. moreover,
A coin collection box 33 is provided adjacent to the recycling box 32 at the front of the deposit distribution path 28 in the conveyance direction, and the coin collection box 33 is located at the front of the deposit distribution path 28 in the transport direction.
Coins that are moved without actuating G fall from the deposit distribution path 28 and are stored in the coin collection box 33. The recycle box 32 is provided with a discharge belt 32a and a discharge port 32b for discharging the coins in the box to the dispensing transport mechanism 15.

A payout gate 34 is provided at the bottom of each coin accumulation tube 31A to 31F for paying out coins one by one based on a payout command, and the coins paid out from the payout gate 34 are The coins fall onto the horizontal conveyance section 35 of the dispensing conveyance mechanism 15, pass through the inclined conveyance section 36, and are sent out one by one to the dispensing conveyance path 37 in the upper part of the machine. The payout conveyance path 37 is provided with a sensor 37a for detecting passage of coins and counting them. The coins conveyed through the payout conveyance path 37 are dropped into the transaction opening 1 from the receiving opening 3.

In the coin depositing and dispensing machine having such a configuration, when a coin is inserted into the transaction port 1, the depositing gate 4 is opened and the coin falls into the depositing conveyance path 5, and is counted by the sensor 7a and becomes the first coin. Supply mechanism 8
1 by the first coin supply mechanism 8.
The sheets are separated one by one and sent to the differential counting section 10. The coins whose authenticity has been determined and counted by the discrimination and counting section 10 are temporarily stored in the storage section 13 if they are judged to be acceptable (in this case, the deposited coins approved in the previous transaction are transferred to the switching and discharging mechanism. 21), and if there is a coin that is determined to be unacceptable, the coin is sent from the discrimination and counting path 11. The coins are dropped onto the project chute 16, sent to the payout conveyance mechanism 15, counted by the sensor 37a of the payout conveyance path 37, and returned to the transaction outlet 1. In this way, when the differential counting process is performed and no coins are sent out from the first coin supply mechanism 8, and no passing coins are detected by the differential counting unit 10 even after a certain period of time has passed, the deposit conveyance path is 5 and the first coin supply mechanism 8 are brought to a stopped state, and the discrimination and counting process of deposited coins is completed. In this state, if the removal mechanism 9 of the first coin supply mechanism 8 is activated and deformed coins, etc. remain in the coin supply mechanism 8, the deformed coins, etc. are discharged to the reject chute 16. The coins are then sent to the payout conveyance mechanism 15, counted by the sensor 37a of the payout conveyance path 37, and returned to the transaction port 1.

When the discrimination and counting process for the deposited coins is completed in this manner, the operator determines whether or not the transaction is approved based on the discrimination and counting result.

If the transaction is approved, the discharge gate 20 of the temporary storage section 13 is rotated for a certain period of time to open the discharge port 19, and the coins on the inclined plate 18 are switched all at once to the horizontal conveyance section of the discharge mechanism 21. 22, and drives the switching release mechanism 21 in the forward rotation direction (as described above, if the forward rotation drive is already being performed, the forward rotation drive will continue).
and feed the coins into the second coin supply mechanism 24,
It is possible to perform storage processing in each of the coin accumulation tubes 31A to 31F. in this case,
The temporary storage section 13 has an inclined plate 18 and a discharge gate 2.
Since the chute configuration is made with
It can be dropped onto the horizontal conveyance section 22 of 1.

In addition, if a transaction is not approved due to the occurrence of deformed coins, rejected coins, etc., the temporary storage section 13 is The discharge gate 20 is rotated for a certain period of time to open the discharge port 19, and the coins on the inclined plate 18 are dropped all at once onto the horizontal conveying section 22 of the switching and discharging mechanism 21, and the switching and discharging mechanism 21 is rotated in the reverse direction. The coins are driven and dropped onto the horizontal conveyance section 22 to be discharged to the dispensing conveyance mechanism 15 on the left side in FIG.

Therefore, when performing multiple deposit transactions consecutively, after the differential counting process of the deposited coins inserted in the previous transaction is completed, the discharge port 19 of the temporary storage section 13 is opened and the coins are switched and discharged. By discharging into the mechanism 21 and closing the discharge gate 20 again,
Before and after the discharge gate 20, that is, the differential counting section 12
Since the switching and discharging mechanism 21 can be placed in a cutoff state, when a plurality of deposit transactions are performed continuously, deposited coins from new transactions can be stored in the temporary storage section 13 while being differentially counted.
In parallel with this discrimination and counting process of newly deposited coins, the coins from the previous transaction are switched and the ejection mechanism 2
1 to the second coin supply mechanism 24,
It is possible to carry out storage processing.

The operation at the time of a deposit transaction described above was explained for the case where the deposited coins approved in the previous transaction still remain on the switching and discharging mechanism 21 that rotates in the forward direction. If all of the deposited coins approved in the above are distributed and stored by the second coin supply mechanism 24 and the deposit distribution path 28 and disappear from the switching discharge mechanism 21, from the start of this new deposit transaction. By opening the discharge gate 20 of the temporary storage section 13 and using the stopped switching and discharging mechanism 21 as a temporary storage section, during a new deposit transaction, deposited coins approved in the previous transaction can be released in the same manner as described above. If the switching discharge mechanism 21 is stopped, the discharge gate 20 of the temporary storage section 13 is opened after the switching discharge mechanism 21 is stopped, and the switching discharge mechanism 21 in the stopped state is temporarily stored in the same manner as described above. It can be used as a part.

Furthermore, when the belt conveyor of the switching and discharging mechanism 21 is driven in the forward direction to send deposited coins to the second coin supply mechanism 24, the belt conveyor of the switching and discharging mechanism 21 is adjusted in accordance with the distribution processing speed of the second coin supply mechanism 24 and the deposit distribution path 28. The system is configured so that the feeding speed can be controlled (increase/decrease the supply speed, intermittent feeding, etc.) so that the amount of coins is the same, and in the case of reverse drive to return coins to the dispensing conveyance mechanism 15, it can be configured so that they can be discharged at high speed. It is something.

Further, FIGS. 2 to 5 show other embodiments of the present invention, and in these embodiments, a tray 41 is provided at the transaction port 1, and the tray 41 is vertically rotated. Coins are fed directly into the first coin supply mechanism 8 via a funnel-shaped guide section 42. In addition, in the examples in Figures 3 to 5, transaction opening 1 in the example in Figure 2
An input slot 43 for other replenishment coins is provided,
One coin is provided in the example shown in FIG. 3, and a plurality of coins are provided in the examples shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, for example, six coins are provided for each denomination. The coins are fed into a coin supply mechanism 8. When inserting the replenishment coins, the ejection gate 20 of the temporary storage section 13 is opened, and the switching and ejection mechanism 21 is operated in the normal rotation direction to temporarily remove the coins that have passed through the discrimination and counting section 10. The coins are fed into the second coin supply mechanism 24 without being stored, and storage processing is performed.

In each of the above embodiments, an example was shown in which the coin depositing device of the present invention was applied to a circulating coin depositing and dispensing machine. It can also be applied to machines etc. In addition, it is possible to change the detailed configuration without changing the gist of the present invention.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the coin depositing device of the present invention, since the discrimination counting section and the switching discharge mechanism can be shut off by the temporary storage section, the coins stored in the temporary storage section can be After discharging the coins to the switching and discharging mechanism, while the subsequent processing is being carried out from the switching and discharging mechanism, it is possible to differentiate and count the deposited coins from the new transaction and store them in the temporary storage section. The differential counting process in a transaction and the processes subsequent to the differential counting process can be performed in parallel and continuously. In this case, the chute-configured temporary storage section allows instant release of stored coins and preparation for the next transaction, thereby reducing processing time. Further, the coins that have fallen in bulk from the temporary storage section can be broken up by a switching and discharging mechanism having a belt conveyor structure and fed into the second coin supplying mechanism little by little, and the feeding operation by the second coin supplying mechanism can be smoothly performed. This has the effect of preventing the occurrence of coin jams, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing one embodiment in which the coin depositing device of the present invention is applied to a circulating coin depositing and dispensing machine, and FIGS. 2 to 5 are schematic diagrams showing other embodiments of the present invention, respectively. . DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Transaction port, 5... Deposit conveyance path, 7a... Sensor, 8... First coin supply mechanism, 9... Removal mechanism, 10... Discrimination counting section, 11... Discrimination counting path,
12... Differential counting mechanism, 13... Temporary storage section, 1
4... Reject gate, 15... Dispensing conveyance mechanism, 16... Reject chute, 18... Inclined plate, 19... Discharge port, 20... Discharge gate, 21
...Switching release mechanism, 22...Horizontal conveyance section, 2
3... Inclined conveyance unit, 24... Second coin supply mechanism, 26... Return gate, 28... Deposit distribution path,
29...Distribution discrimination mechanism, 31A to 31F...Coin accumulation cylinder, 37...Payout conveyance path, 37a...Sensor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A coin supply mechanism that accepts a large number of deposited coins and feeds them out one by one, a differential counting section that performs differential counting of the coins fed out from the coin feeding mechanism, and a coin feeding mechanism that performs differential counting of the coins fed out from the coin feeding mechanism; After the coins are temporarily stored and the differential counting process of all the coins received in the coin supply mechanism is completed, the coins are returned to the storage unit or returned according to an instruction from the operator as to whether or not the transaction is approved based on the differential counting results. a switching discharge mechanism that selectively discharges coins toward the storage section; a second coin supply mechanism that accepts the coins discharged from the switching discharge mechanism toward the storage section according to the transaction approval instruction and feeds out the coins one by one again; In a coin depositing device comprising a deposit distribution path for distributing and storing coins sent out from a second coin supplying mechanism for each denomination, the switching and discharging mechanism is constituted by a belt conveyor that can place and convey coins. , one end of which is connected to the second coin supply mechanism and the other end of which is connected to the return unit, and at least the vicinity of the one end is arranged at an upward slope toward the second coin supply mechanism, and these discrimination counts A chute is provided between the switching section and the switching and discharging mechanism, which temporarily stores the coins sent out from the discrimination and counting section, and allows the temporarily stored coins to be dropped and discharged at once to the switching and discharging mechanism by opening the discharging gate. A coin depositing device characterized by having a temporary storage section configured as follows.