JPH06215226A - Coin processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain a non-stop ticket vending machine capable of reducing operator's load required for the collecting and feeding of coins and preventing its operation from being stopped even at closing time in an automatic ticket vending device for vending a passenger ticket by user's operation. CONSTITUTION:Out of coins stored in a change dispensing mechanism part 17h e.g. 10-YEN coins and 100-YEN coins overflowing the maximum number of coins to be stored in respective storing parts 17h-1, 17h-3 are circulated and stored in a preparatory change mechanism part 17i. At closing time, change preparing amount in the following day is left in the mechanism part 17i and only the coins exceeding the change preparing amount are recovered to a cash box. Thus closing work is executed by leaving the fixed amount of coins in the mechanism part 17i.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coin processing device used in, for example, a ticket vending machine for selling a ticket.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, for example, in railways, many station service automation devices such as ticket vending machines have been introduced for the purpose of labor saving. By the way, there is a conventional station automation device that directly uses coins inserted by a user (passenger) as change.

That is, this kind of station service automation device stores coins inserted by a user, and at the same time, a change dispensing mechanism for discharging the stored coins as change and a change dispensing mechanism for the change dispensing mechanism. For the purpose of preventing the change from running out before the coins accumulate, it is configured to have a spare change mechanism section in which coins as change fund are stored in advance.

At the time of closing every day, all coins in the change dispensing mechanism section and the spare change mechanism section are collected in a safe and totaled, and then the spare change mechanism section is replenished (set) with a fixed amount of change fund. It has become. Further, many coins are inserted by the user, and coins that cannot be stored in the change dispensing mechanism unit are successively collected in the safe.

However, in the prior art, after collecting and counting all the coins collected in the safe in one place, the coins corresponding to the change fund are again supplied to the respective spare change mechanism units. , Wasted time on the work of collecting and replenishing coins. Moreover, since the coin itself is very heavy, it is a heavy labor for the staff (station staff). Furthermore, when the deadline is reached, all coins in the station affair automation equipment are collected, and there is a problem that the equipment must be stopped during that time.

[0006]

As described above, in the prior art, it takes a lot of time and effort to collect and replenish coins, resulting in poor workability. Further, it is necessary to stop the equipment at the deadline. Therefore, there is a drawback that the operating efficiency is reduced accordingly.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a coin processing device capable of improving the workability in collecting and replenishing coins and improving the operating efficiency of the equipment.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in a coin processing device of the present invention, a coin taking-in means for taking in coins and a first coin for accommodating coins taken in by the taking-in means are provided. Storage means, first dispensing means for dispensing the coins stored in the first storage means as change, second storage means for storing a large number of coins in advance as change fund, and A second payout means for paying out coins stored in the second storage means as change, and the second storage means for supplying coins that cannot be stored in the first storage means. It comprises a supply means and a recovery means for recovering the coins supplied by the supply means and stored in the second storage means in excess of a preset amount of change fund. ing.

Further, in the coin processing device of the present invention, the taking-in means for taking in the coins, the first accommodating means for counting the coins taken in by the taking-in means, and accommodating the coins by denomination, A first payout means for counting coins stored in one storage means and paying out as change, a second storage means for storing a large number of coins in advance as change fund, and a second storage means. The coins stored in the first storing means are counted, and when the coins stored in the first storing means run short, the second storing means for discharging the coins as change and the second storing means for the second storing means. A supply means for supplying coins that cannot be stored by the first storage means, and a supply means for supplying the coins which are supplied by the supply means and paid out by the second payout means and stored in the second storage means. Management means for managing the number of coins that are stored, Note: Setting means for setting the amount of change fund of the second storage means, and coins stored in the second storage means beyond the amount of change fund set by the setting means. And a collecting means for collecting at the deadline according to the management content of the managing means.

[0010]

According to the present invention, since the coins can be collected by the above-mentioned means while leaving the change fund, the burden can be reduced and the equipment can be maintained in the operating state even at the deadline. Is.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of an automatic ticket vending apparatus according to the present invention.

That is, this automatic ticket vending machine has a main control section 11 for controlling the whole and an interface (I / I).
F) A coin processing machine 17, a banknote processing machine 18, a ticket processing machine 19, a customer service section 20, an attendant operation panel 21, etc., which are connected via 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 respectively. The banknote handling machine 18 accepts banknotes input by a user (passenger), discriminates authenticity, fetches only genuine banknotes, and stores them inside.

The ticket issuing machine 19 visually prints the ticket information on the face of the housed ticket and magnetically encodes the ticket information so that it can be used in an automatic ticket gate. This is issued as a ticket.

The customer service section 20 has a slot for a user to insert banknotes and coins, and has a display section for displaying a deposit amount and an operation button (account button) for inputting a destination. There is. The clerk operation panel 21 is used for monitoring the operating state of the device and for setting initial values such as a change fund for a spare change mechanism section, which will be described later.

The coin processing machine 17 is a CP that controls itself.
In addition to the U 17a and the memory 17b that stores the control program, as shown in FIG. 2, the insertion unit 17c, the coin inspection unit 17d, the diamond selector unit 17e, the counting unit 17f, the holding unit 17g, the change dispensing mechanism unit 17h, Spare change mechanism 1
7i and the transport unit 17j.

The memory 17b stores, in addition to the control program, the number of coins to be taken in and the number of coins to be paid out,
Various data such as the number of stored items and the amount of change fund (the number of items by type) are stored. The input unit 17c is
It accepts coins inserted by users and discharges change. The money inspection section 17d is the above-mentioned input section 17
The authenticity of the coins received in c is verified. The diamond selector unit 17e classifies coins, which are determined as true coins by the coin inspection unit 17d, into denominations according to their outer shapes. The counting unit 17f counts the coins determined as true coins by the coin inspection unit 17d.

The holding unit 17g temporarily holds the taken-in coins, and drops the held coins into the change dispensing mechanism unit 17h as the user inputs the account button, and at the time of inserting the cancel button. Is configured to return the held coins to the user from the input section 17c.

The change dispensing mechanism section 17h includes the holding section 17 described above.
For storing coins dropped from g by denomination,
Multiple (here, four) storage units 17h-1 and 17h-
It has 2,17h-3,17h-4.

Here, the storage portions 17h-1, 17h-2,
Each of 17h-3 and 17h-4 is designed to store, for example, a 10-yen coin, a 50-yen coin, a 100-yen coin, and a 500-yen coin, and the maximum storable number is 100. .

The spare change mechanism unit 17i is a coin (for example, 10 coins) as change fund for paying out change.
Yen coins and 100-yen coins) are stored in advance, and the maximum number of coins that can be stored in both coins is 1000.

In the spare change mechanism unit 17i, coins to be dispensed as change are supplied to the transfer unit 17j, and coins to be collected at the deadline are changed by switching the selector shown by the broken line in the figure. (Not shown).

That is, as an initial value of the change fund by the staff operation panel 21, for example, 10 yen coin-50
If 0 coins and 100 yen coins-500 coins are set, the coins stored beyond the coins will be collected in the safe at the deadline.

The transport section 17j is the change dispensing mechanism section 17 described above.
h storage units 17h-1, 17h-2, 17h-3, 1
Coins paid out as change from 7h-4, or coins paid out as change from the spare change mechanism unit 17i,
It is sent to the input part 17c.

Further, the carrying section 17j is provided in each of the storage sections 17h-1, 17h-2, 17 of the change dispensing mechanism section 17h.
The coins that cannot be stored at h-3 and 17h-4 are sent to the inserting section 17c, and are supplied to the spare change mechanism section 17i via the coin inspection section 17d and the diamond selector section 17e. . Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. For example, it is assumed that, when a user purchases a ticket, money is inserted into the slot of the customer service section 20.

Then, among the inserted coins, coins are taken in by the inserting section 17d of the coin processing machine 17,
It is sent to the public inspection department 17d. Then, the coin inspection unit 17d discriminates the authenticity one by one, and only coins determined to be true coins are sent to the diamond selector unit 17e. Further, coins that have not been determined to be true coins are returned to the user by the insertion unit 17c. The coins sent to the diamond selector 17e are
According to the outer shape, it is categorized by denomination, and further, the counting unit 1
After being counted in 7f, it is held in the holding unit 17g. On the other hand, among the inserted coins, banknotes are taken in by the banknote handling machine 18, and similarly, only banknotes determined to be true banknotes are temporarily held.

In this state, when the user turns on the account button of the customer service section 20, the main control section 11
Ticket information is generated based on the destination and the amount of money input.

This ticket information is used as the ticket issuing processor 19
When the ticket is sent, the ticket information such as the date and time of issue and the feasible section is visually printed on the ticket surface, and the ticket is magnetically encoded to create the ticket, which is later issued to the user.

Further, at this time, the instruction to issue the ticket based on the ticket information is also sent to the coin processing machine 17, so that the coins held by the holding section 17g are changed all at once. It is dropped into 17h and is stored in each of the storage portions 17h-1, 17h-2, 17h-3, 17h-4 by denomination.

At this time, the change-out mechanism 1 described above.
Number of coins dropped into 7h by denomination (the number of coins taken in by denomination), and the storage units 17h-1, 17h-2, 17
The number of stored sheets in h-3 and 17h-4 is managed on the memory 17b. Similarly, when banknotes have been inserted, the banknotes that have been reserved are stored inside, and the number of denominations and the like are managed on the memory.

If it is necessary to pay the change due to the issuance of the above-mentioned ticket, that is, if the amount (fare) of the ticket is lower than the inserted amount, the main control unit 1
The change information is sent from 1 to the coin processing machine 17, whereby change-out processing is performed.

That is, the CPU 17a of the coin processing machine 17
By referring to the contents of the memory 17b by
Each storage 17h-1, 17h-2, 17h-3, 17h
The number of coins stored in -4 is checked.

Then, when payout is possible, coins corresponding to the amount of change information are transferred from the storage units 17h-1, 17h-2, 17h-3, 17h-4 to the transport unit 17.
In addition to being discharged onto the j, it is paid out to the user from the inserting section 17c with the sale of the above-mentioned ticket.

If each of the storage units 17h-1, 17h-2,
When the coins in 17h-3 and 17h-4 are insufficient for paying out the change, the shortfall coins are directly paid out from the spare change mechanism unit 17i via the transport unit 17j.

At this time, the change-out mechanism 1 described above.
7h storage units 17h-1, 17h-2, 17h-3,
17h-4, the number of coins paid out by coin (the number of coins paid out by coin), the storage units 17h-1, 17h-2, 1
The number of stored coins in 7h-3 and 17h-4 and the number of coins paid out from the spare change mechanism 17i are managed on the memory 17b.

In this way, the storage units 17h-1, 17h-2, 17h-3, 17h-4 of the change dispensing mechanism unit 17h.
When the coins in the inside are exhausted, the change will be paid out directly from the spare change mechanism unit 17i.

On the contrary, each storage section 1 of the change dispensing mechanism section 17h
Inside 7h-1, 17h-2, 17h-3, 17h-4,
It is assumed that the loaded coins are full, that is, the maximum number of coins that can be stored (100) or more.

Then, among the 10-yen coins and the 100-yen coins to be stored in the storage units 17h-1 and 17h-3, the coins exceeding the maximum storable number of coins are transferred to the transport unit 17j.
The spare change mechanism section 1 is conveyed by the transfer section 17c, passes through the check section 17d and the diamond selector section 17e.
7i. In this case also, the spare change mechanism unit 17
The number of denominations of coins stored in i is managed on the memory 17b.

As described above, among the coins that cannot be stored in the change dispensing mechanism 17h, the coins suitable for paying out as change (in this case, 10 yen coins and 100 yen coins) are
The change dispensing mechanism 17 is stored in the spare change mechanism 17i.
It is used to pay out when the coins in h are insufficient. It should be noted that coins exceeding the maximum storable number (1000 coins) of both coins in the spare change mechanism unit 17i are collected in a safe (not shown).

Further, among the 50-yen coins and the 500-yen coins to be stored in the storage units 17h-2 and 17h-4, coins in excess of the maximum storable coins are similarly collected in the safe. .

In this way, the passenger ticket is automatically purchased by the user's operation, and after the operation for a fixed time, for example, when the operation for one day is completed, the deadline work is performed.

At the time of the deadline work, coins are collected from the spare change mechanism unit 17i according to the initial value of the change fund set by the staff operation panel 21.

That is, when a deadline instruction is input from the staff operation panel 21, a coin recovery instruction is issued to the coin processor 17 via the main control unit 11. Then, CPU1
The content of the memory 17b is referred to by 7a, and the number of coins corresponding to the change fund and the number of coins stored in the spare change mechanism unit 17i by coin type are checked.

When the number of coins stored in the spare change mechanism unit 17i is larger than the change reserve amount, coins exceeding the change reserve amount are discharged from the spare change mechanism unit 17i and stored in the safe. Be recovered.

For example, when the initial value of 500 coins is set for each of the 10-yen coin and the 100-yen coin as the change fund, 10-yen coins and 100-yen coins stored in excess of these 500 coins And will be collected in a safe. Further, if the actual number of coins stored is smaller than the change fund, coins are not collected.

In this way, by automatically ejecting the coins stored in excess of the initial value, the spare change mechanism section 17i is automatically replenished (set) with coins as a change reserve for the next day. It becomes possible to do.

Further, in this case, the coins in the coin processor 17 are not emptied, and the change dispensing mechanism 17h and the spare change mechanism 17i can be operated in parallel. For this reason, even while the coins in the spare change mechanism unit 17i are being collected, the change can be paid out for the purchase of the ticket by the user, so that it is not necessary to cancel the sale during the deadline work, so-called non-stop. A ticket vending machine can be realized. As described above, the coins can be collected while leaving the change fund.

That is, the amount of overflow of the capacity of the change dispensing mechanism is circulated to the spare change mechanism, and
At the deadline, coins are collected by leaving a change reserve for the next day in the spare change mechanism. This allows
The number of coins collected in the safe can be extremely reduced, and the time and effort to set the coins once collected in the spare change mechanism again can be eliminated, so the burden on the staff can be greatly reduced. As well as when the deadline
It is possible to continue the operating state of the device. Therefore, it is possible to realize an automatic ticket vending apparatus capable of improving the workability of collecting and replenishing coins and improving the operation efficiency of the equipment.

In the above embodiment, the automatic ticket vending machine has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the automatic ticket vending machine, the automatic ticket vending machine, the ATM, and various automatic vending machines can be used. Can be similarly applied.

Further, it is not limited to simply collecting coins in the spare change mechanism section, and for example (in addition to or in addition to the change fund), the change uncollected money may be variably set. However, for the purpose of preventing the disappearance of coins in the spare change mechanism unit, the decrease of coins may be detected to prompt the replenishment. Of course, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0050]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a coin processing device capable of improving the workability in collecting and replenishing coins and improving the operation efficiency of the equipment. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an automatic ticket selling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a coin processing machine included in the automatic ticket vending apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Main control part, 17 ... Coin processor, 17a ... CPU,
17b ... Memory, 17c ... Injection section, 17d ... Sensor section, 1
7e ... Diamond selector section, 17f ... Counting section, 17g ... Reserving section, 17h ... Change dispensing mechanism section, 17h-1, 17h-
2, 17h-3, 17h-4 ... storage section, 17i ... spare change mechanism section, 17j ... transport section, 18 ... banknote processing machine, 19 ...
Ticketing processor, 20 ... Customer service department, 21 ... Staff operation panel.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A taking-in means for taking in coins, a first accommodating means for accommodating the coins taken in by the taking-in means, and a first means for paying out coins accommodated in the first accommodating means as change. A payout means, a second accommodating means for accommodating a large number of coins in advance as change fund, a second payout means for ejecting the coins accommodated in the second accommodating means as change, Of the coins stored in the second storage means, and a supply means for supplying coins that cannot be stored in the first storage means to the storage means of the second storage means. A coin processing device, comprising: a collecting means for collecting coins in excess of a preset amount of change fund. 2. A taking-in means for taking in coins, a first storing means for counting the coins taken in by the taking-in means, and storing the coins by denomination, and a coin for storing in the first storing means. Then, the first payout means for paying out as change, the second storing means for storing a large number of coins in advance as change fund, and the coins stored in the second storing means are counted, A second payout means for paying out coins stored as a change when the coins stored in the first storage means are insufficient, and a portion that cannot be stored in the first storage means with respect to the second storage means. Supply means for supplying coins to store the coins, and management means for managing the number of coins supplied by the supply means and paid out by the second payout means and stored in the second storage means. And the change fund of the second storage means Setting means for setting, and coins stored in the second storing means exceeding the amount of change fund set by the setting means at the deadline according to the management content of the management means. A coin processing device comprising: a collecting means for collecting.