JPH0665971U - Abrasion coin detection device and coin processing device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a detection device capable of detecting the amount of wear in the thickness direction for each coin. [Structure] A distance sensor that generates an output according to a distance between a main surface of a coin conveyed along a reference surface of a coin passage and a sensor position; And a wear determining unit that determines the wear amount of the coin by comparing the output value group corresponding to the wear amount of the coin. [Effect] It becomes possible to detect the amount of wear of the coin in the thickness direction.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a worn coin detecting device for detecting worn coins and a coin processing device using the same.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 A conventional example of a coin processing device will be described. FIG. 7 shows an example of the mechanism of a coin wrapping device, which is a coin processing device for performing the coin wrapping process introduced in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-123803, in which coins are fed one by one to stack coins. Feeding unit 1, stacking unit 2 for stacking coins fed one by one from this feeding unit 1, packaging unit 3 for receiving and packaging the stacked coins stacked in this stacking unit 2, and this packaging The distribution unit 4 for distributing the coins and the loose coins created in the unit 3 is provided.

The coin feeding unit 1 receives a coin to be packed and feeds it one by one, and a coin passage 12 that conveys coins fed one by one from the rotating disc 11 toward the stacking unit 2. It consists of and. The rotary disk 11 is rotationally driven by a motor 13, and the coins on the rotary disk 11 are moved toward the guide wall 14 around the rotary disk 11 by a centrifugal force due to the rotation, and the coin is provided on a part of the guide wall 14. It passes through the underside of the thickness control unit 15 and is fed to the coin passage 12 one by one.

The coin passage 12 is provided with passage side plates 17 for guiding the conveyance of coins on both sides of an upper surface of a passage bottom plate 16 as a reference surface, and one coin is passed from the rotary disc 11 under the thickness regulating portion 15. The coins fed out one by one are received between the passage side plates 17, and are conveyed by a conveyor belt 19 which is stretched above the passage and rotated by a motor 18. A roller 20 (not shown) is rotatably provided at the end of the coin passage 12 so that the coin fed from the coin passage 12 is sandwiched between the coin and the conveyor belt 19 and transferred to the stacking unit 2. ing.

Further, the coin passage 12 is provided with coin detecting means 21 for detecting coins conveyed in the coin passage 12, and the coin detecting means 21 is located slightly closer to the end of the coin passage 12 than the counting sensor 22. And a confirmation sensor 23 at the end of the coin passage 12, and a stopper 25 that is driven between the two sensors 22 and 23 by a solenoid 24 to move back and forth. ing. Then, when the counting sensor 22 detects the coin of the number of the packaging unit (for example, 50th coin), the stopper 25 retracted outside the passage is advanced into the passage and the next coin (the 51st coin) of the packaging unit number is inserted. Eyes) are stopped, and the number of coins actually delivered from the coin passage 12 to the stacking section 2 is detected by the confirmation sensor 22.

The stacking section 2 has a belt cylinder 31 as a supporting device for supporting the lower surface of the stacking coin. In this belt cylinder 31, a pair of belts 33 having coin supporting protrusions 32 at surface symmetrical positions are rotatably stretched between upper and lower rollers 34 with their surfaces facing each other. The opposite surfaces of the belt 33 are synchronously rotated in the same direction. Guide plates 36 and 37 (not shown) are arranged on the side surface of the belt cylinder 31 on the coin passage 12 side and the side surface on the opposite side thereof, and the bottom of the belt cylinder 31 is driven by a solenoid or the like. A shutter 38 that can be opened is provided. Then, in this belt cylinder 31, the coin fed out from the end of the coin passage 12 is placed between the coin support protrusions 32 of both belts 33, and the pulse motor 35 is driven by a predetermined pulse each time one coin is placed to drive both belts 33. The coin supporting position of the coin supporting protrusion 32 is lowered, and coins corresponding to the packaging unit number are stacked between the belts 33.

An operating member 39 is arranged above the belt cylinder 31. The actuating member 39 is disposed along the same direction as the coin passage 12 and is swingably supported by a support shaft 40 on one end side of the coin passage 12 as a fulcrum. A roller 41 as a coin contact portion is rotatably attached to one end facing upward, and a rectangular window hole (not shown) that is fitted on the outside of a swing restriction shaft (not shown) to restrict the swing amount ( (Not shown) is formed, and a spring (not shown) for urging the roller 41 on one end side to swing downward is stretched. The lower surface of the roller 41 is located slightly lower than the upper surfaces of the passage bottom plate 16 and the roller 20 of the coin passage 12. When the roller 41 comes into contact with the coin guided from the coin passage 12 to the belt cylinder 31 and is pushed up, when the upper surface of the stacked coin in the belt cylinder 31 is at a position higher than a predetermined position and comes in contact with the coin, The actuating member 39 swings against the spring, and the actuating member detecting means 46 detects the detection plate 45 attached to the other end of the actuating member 39 to detect the swing of the actuating member 39. It has become.

The packaging unit 3 has a guide rod 51. When the guide rod 51 is positioned below the shutter 38 of the belt cylinder 31, the shutter 38 is opened to release stacked coins. The coin is received on the guide bar 51, and the guide bar 51 descends as it is to guide the stacked coins between the plurality of packaging rollers 52. The wrapping roller 52 holds the stacked coins guided by the guide rods 51, and is rotated by the drive of the motor 53 to rotate the overlapping coins. Then, the wrapping paper is supplied between the wrapping roller 52 and the stacked coins. The wrapping paper 55 supplied from the device 54 is wrapped around the stacked coins. Further, the upper and lower edges of the wrapping paper wrapped around the peripheral surface of the stacked coin by the wrapping roller 52 are wound around the end surface of the stacked coin by the pair of upper and lower winding hooks 56a and 56b to form a bar-shaped coin.

The winding hooks 56a and 56b are attached to one ends of the elevating levers 57a and 57b, respectively, and the elevating shafts 58a and 58b to which the other ends of the elevating levers 57a and 57b are attached are not shown in the drawings. By moving up and down by the mechanism, it is possible to move toward and away from each end face of the stacked coins.

Further, the packaging unit 3 is provided with a stacking length measuring means 59 for measuring a stacking length of stacked coins. The stacking length measuring means 59 has a support member 60, which is long in the upper and lower direction, attached to the upper lift lever 57a so as not to interfere with the lower lift lever 57b. And a timing belt 63 is stretched between the pulleys 61 and 62, and the timing belt 63 is connected to the lower lifting lever 57b by a connecting tool 64. A rotary encoder 65 is connected to the rotating shaft of the. The upper and lower elevating levers 57a and 57b are relatively moved up and down to rotate the timing belt 63, which is detected by the rotary encoder 65. The output of the rotary encoder 65 measures the stacking length of the stacking coins, and the stacking length is written in the measured stacking height storage area of the memory of the controller (not shown).

The passage width of the coin passage 12, the width of the belt cylinder 31, the interval between the plurality of packaging rollers 52, etc. are adjusted for each denomination.

The distribution unit 4 has a chute 71 disposed below the wrapping rollers 52 of the wrapping unit 3 to receive the coin bars packaged and discharged by the wrapping unit 3 in a vertical posture and in a horizontal posture. And is discharged from the lower discharge port 72. In addition, in the middle of the chute 71, a shoot 73 is continuously provided and a shutter 74 for switching the passage is provided. Normally, the shutter 74 is in the state of entering the chute 71, and 2 Coins that fall due to collapsed stacking in the packaging unit 3 or coins that are discharged when the number of packaging units does not reach the unit number or stacks are judged to be unstackable are guided to the chute 73, while the coin is released when the shutter is released. 74 is retracted from within the chute 71. Further, a pair of chutes 73a and 73b are continuously provided at the lower end of the chute 73, and a shutter 75 for switching the passages is provided to the storage boxes 76 and 77 arranged under the chutes 73a and 73b. Can be selectively stored.

By the way, coins are used for a long period of time. Coins wear when they circulate for a long time, and generally wear in the thickness direction is greater than wear in the radial direction. In a coin wrapping machine that stacks a predetermined number of such coins, for example, 50 coins in Japan, and wraps the wrapping paper around the coins, the coins are stacked due to a stacking error when the coins are stacked. Since it may fall without being stacked, it is possible to detect this by, for example, looking at the amount of movement when sandwiching both ends of the wrapped wrapping paper with the catch hooks as described above, and stacking coins. Is measuring the height of.

[0014]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, is the stacking height when only 50 worn coins are normally stacked is the same as the stacking height when 49 non-wearing coins are stacked? , Or less. In such a case, the two cannot be distinguished, and both are excluded as coins that do not meet the standard stacking height. For this reason, when a large amount of worn coins are contained, there is a problem that coins cannot be effectively packed.

Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a detection device capable of detecting the amount of wear in the thickness direction of each stacked coin.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a coin processing device capable of accurately discriminating a stacking anomaly regardless of the degree of wear of coins.

[0017]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, the wear coin detecting device of the present invention includes a distance sensor that generates an output according to a distance between a main surface of a coin conveyed along a reference surface of a coin passage and a sensor position. Wear determination means for comparing the output level of the distance sensor with a group of output values obtained in advance corresponding to the amount of wear of each type of coin to determine the amount of wear of the coin.

Further, the coin processing device of the present invention comprises a thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of each coin passing through the coin passage, a stacking means for stacking the passed coins, and the stacking means. The stacking height calculation means for obtaining the stacking height of a predetermined number of coins stacked by the above, and the stacking height of the predetermined number of stacked coins The stack height is measured by the stack height measuring means for determining the height by measuring the distance between both ends of the stack coin, and the stack height measured by the stack height measuring means and the stack height calculating means. A stack height comparison means for comparing the stack height with the stack height is provided.

[0019]

[Action]

 Generally, the edge part of a coin is worn more than the pattern part of a coin. Therefore, the worn coin passing through the coin transport path has a pattern portion closer to the reference surface when the edge portion is in close contact with the reference surface. Also, in the case of coins that are less worn, the pattern part will separate from the reference surface when the edge is in close contact with the reference surface. A distance sensor quantitatively detects the distance between the reference surface and the pattern portion to determine the amount of wear of the edge portion of the coin. The actual thickness of the coin can be calculated by subtracting the wear amount from the regular thickness of the coin.

In a coin stacking device such as a coin packaging device, comparing the actual cumulative value of individual thicknesses of stacked coins with the dimension values of both ends of the stacked coins as a whole. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of stacking error determination when a large number of worn coins are mixed.

[0021]

【Example】

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the points of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the coin moves in the transport direction along the reference plane on the coin passage. Coins are usually disc-shaped and have two circular main surfaces including a pattern portion and an edge portion. A distance sensor 101 for measuring the distance from the main surface of the coin, for example, a magnetic sensor capable of measuring the distance by the change in magnetism due to the approach of the coin is arranged near the coin passage. The distance sensor 101 can be used both for counting passing coins and detecting the degree of wear by configuring the counting sensor 22 shown in FIG. 7 by a magnetic sensor, for example. When money is moved from the left to the right on the coin passage, a trapezoidal output waveform as shown in FIG. 2 is obtained as the output of the distance sensor 101 at this time. It was found that the amplitude of this waveform is related to the thickness of the edge part of the coin. That is, when the thickness of the edge portion is thin, the sensor output becomes large, and when the thickness of the edge portion is large, the sensor output becomes small. The reason for this is that the edges of coins generally wear out faster than the patterns. It is considered that when the edge part of the coin wears, the surface of the pattern part of the coin comes closer to the reference surface of the coin passage and comes closer to the distance sensor. Incidentally, when the distance between the coin surface and the magnetic sensor was different by 0.1 mm, the output voltage of the sensor was different by about 0.2 bolt. Therefore, the correspondence relationship between the thickness of money and the sensor output is made into a table in advance for each denomination of money. For example, by designating the denomination u and the sensor output v as arguments of the table function g, the thickness y of money can be obtained by y = g (u, v). When coins are piled up, the coins overlap each other at the edge part of the coin, so if the wear degree in the thickness direction of the edge part is known, the current thickness of the measured coins and the predetermined number of coins It is possible to obtain an estimate of the stacking height.

An optical distance sensor can be used as the other distance sensor. For example, pay attention to the phase difference (interference) between the light beam returning from the light source via the known reference optical path length and the light beam returning from the same light source after being reflected on the measurement surface of the coin, and adjusting the known reference optical path length to obtain the phase difference. It is possible to find the position of the coin measurement surface from the value of the reference optical path length when the problem disappears. It is also possible to use a distance sensor that applies a so-called focus adjustment mechanism that irradiates the measurement surface of the coin with a laser beam spot and maintains the reflected beam in a predetermined shape.

Detection of such worn coins can be performed with the configuration shown in FIG. In the figure, the distance sensor 101 generates a trapezoidal waveform voltage output as the coin moves on the reference plane of the coin passage. If necessary, this voltage output can be passed through an appropriate filter, and it is possible to suppress the influence of noise caused by mechanical vibration, for example, on the output waveform to some extent. The amplitude v of the voltage output at a predetermined time point is sampled by the peak hold circuit 102. The wear discriminating circuit 103 is provided with a large number of level comparators set for each denomination u, and realizes the discriminating table of y = g (u, v) described above. The wear determination circuit 103 outputs the wear value y corresponding to the denomination u. For example, in the coin wrapping apparatus, coins are classified in advance for each denomination, and thus the denomination u of the supplied coins can be known in advance by performing the wear determination in the classified coin passage.

Further, a plurality of sample hold circuits can be used. For example, the peak hold circuit 102 is used for sampling the amplitude value of the portion corresponding to the edge portion of the coin in FIG. 5 described later, and the sample hold circuit 102a is used for sampling the amplitude value of the waveform portion corresponding to the pattern portion of the coin. be able to. Further, it is also possible to obtain an average value of the amplitude in the pattern portion using a plurality of sample hold circuits 102a to 102n (not shown) in the pattern portion and use this average value as the voltage output v.

The degree of wear of a coin can also be estimated by examining the thickness difference t between the edge portion and the pattern portion of the coin as shown in FIG. The approximate wear amount Δ of the edge portion is obtained by Δ = (T−t) where T is a normal step difference between the edge portion and the pattern portion. If the wear amount Δ on one side is known, the size of money standardized for each type of money, for example, from the regular edge thickness D, Dc = (D-2Δ), and the current thickness Dc of the coin is calculated. Can be estimated.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of a device 200 for detecting such wear, in which the voltage output from the distance sensor 101 is sampled by the A / D converter 201 as shown in FIG. It is sequentially stored in the RAM 202. The denomination u of coins to be supplied is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 202. The distance sensor 101 has a relatively high resolution so that the edge portion of the coin can be detected. The stored waveform data of the voltage output is processed by the CPU 203. The CPU 203 executes data processing described later by the control program written in the ROM 204 and outputs the wear value. The function of the device 200 can be realized, for example, as part of the control program in the MPU of the coin wrapping device. In such a case, an error display output and a wrapping coin reject command are also output. .

Next, a procedure in which the CPU 203 determines the wear of the coin will be described. FIG. 6 (A) shows such a procedure. When the acquisition of coin data into the RAM 202 is completed, a predetermined flag is set and the CPU 203 executes this subroutine. It should be noted that this subroutine may be performed every time the data of the coins are taken in, or when a fixed number of, for example, 50 coins of data are taken in.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, generally, the edge portion of each coin is more prominent than the pattern portion, and the distance sensor 101 outputs a waveform in a certain range. If the type of coin is known in advance, the edge area and the pattern area of the measurement pattern can be distinguished by referring to the correct basic pattern corresponding to each coin. The peak value is extracted in this edge region to obtain the edge voltage (step S10). The average value of the data in the pattern area is calculated to obtain the pattern voltage (step S12). The difference voltage t ′ is obtained by subtracting the pattern portion voltage from the edge portion voltage, and the voltage t ′ is converted into the distance difference t by the function t = h (t ′). Here, the conversion function h (t ') is obtained in advance from experimental data (step S14). As described above, the wear amount Δ is obtained by Δ = (T−t) where T is the normal step difference between the edge portion and the pattern portion. T is stored in the table of the ROM 204 for each denomination u. This is read and Δ = (T−t) is calculated to detect the wear amount Δ. The wear amount Δ is output to the outside if necessary (step S16).

The function as an independent wear detecting device is realized by steps S10 to S16. However, when the wear detecting device 200 is built in the coin packaging device for the purpose of improving the accuracy in detecting a stacking error, the following steps are further executed.

The normal thickness D of the edge portion of the denomination u is read from the table of the ROM 204, and the current estimated thickness Dc of the coin is calculated from this thickness D by setting Dc = (D−2Δ) ( Step S18). The estimated thickness Dc of one coin this time is integrated with the previous value (cumulative value of the estimated thickness Dc of money up to the previous time) to calculate the current estimated height of the coins to be stacked. The integrated value corresponding to the number of coins stacked is reset when used in the stacking error determination routine described later (step S20). Control then returns to the main control program. In this way, when the coin passes through the coin transport passage, the wear detecting device measures the amount of wear of the coin as needed for each passing coin. It also provides a reference value for error determination when the thickness of passing coins is integrated and a predetermined number of coins are stacked to form a packed coin.

FIG. 6B shows a procedure for determining a stacking error in the CPU of the money packaging device. When the money packaging device incorporates the wear detection device 200 described above, it is possible to cause the CPU of the money packaging device to execute the procedure shown in FIG. 6 (A).

First, when the flag for executing the overlap error determination is set during the execution of the main control program, this subroutine is executed. The CPU reads the stacking height calculated in step S20 from a predetermined storage location and stores it in one register (step S32). The dimension between the ends of the stack currency measured by an electromechanical method such as the stack length measuring means 59 of FIG. 7 is read from another register (step S34). When the two are compared and the difference is within the range of the predetermined error, for example, if the thickness of one coin is less than the predetermined value, it is determined that the integrated value of the predetermined number of coins and the dimension value of the stacking coin match. The multi-stage error determination routine ends. On the other hand, if the calculated stacking height does not match the measured dimension value between both ends of the stacking coin, a stacking error has occurred, and an error display output is generated to alert the user of the device. To do. Further, the stacked coins are collected in a predetermined container (step S38). When the process of determining the status error is completed, the process returns to the main control program (not shown).

As described above, by using the integrated value of the thicknesses of individual coins as the reference value for the stacking error, it is possible to prevent the stacking error caused by the difference in the wear of the old and new coins.

[0034]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, according to the wear coin detecting device of the present invention, it is possible to detect the wear amount of the coin in the thickness direction. Further, according to the coin processing device using the wear coin detecting device of the present invention, the actual thickness of each coin to be stacked is estimated from the wear amount of each coin, and the actual thickness of each coin is determined. Since the accumulated value obtained by accumulating the number of coins is compared with the measured dimension value between both ends of the coins where a predetermined number of coins are piled up, the error coin is discriminated. It is possible to avoid that the difference between the reference value and the actual measurement value of coins due to the large number of coins causes the coin to be identified as an error.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a basic concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing an output waveform example of a distance sensor with respect to the thickness of a coin.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an abrasion coin detecting device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example in which the wear coin detecting device is configured by a microprocessor.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing an output waveform example of a distance sensor.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the CPU.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional coin packaging device.

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A distance sensor for generating an output according to a distance between a main surface of a coin conveyed along a reference surface of a coin passage and a sensor position, and an output level of the distance sensor and a coin obtained in advance. An abrasion coin detecting device comprising: an abrasion discriminating means for discriminating the abrasion amount of a coin by comparing an output value group corresponding to the abrasion amount of each type. 2. A thickness detecting means for detecting the thickness of each coin passing through a coin passage, a stacking means for stacking the passed coins, and a predetermined number of coins stacked by the stacking means. The stacking height calculation means for obtaining the stacking height of the stacking detection output of the thickness detecting means, and the stacking height of the predetermined number of stacked coins as the distance between both ends of the stacking coin. Stack height comparison means for comparing stack heights measured by the stack height measuring means and stack heights calculated by the stack height calculation means A coin processing device comprising: