JPH0670824B2 - Coin handling equipment - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a coin processing device used in a public telephone, a vending machine, and the like, and particularly performs processing such as storing and returning coins using a door and a lock mechanism. The present invention relates to such a coin processing device.

[Prior art]

The best way to process coins inserted from the coin slot with low power is to use gravity effectively. Based on this idea, a coin processing device using a door mechanism and a lock mechanism to control the rolling of coins (Japanese Patent Application No. 59-83699), and a piezoelectric drive type coin processing device in which these mechanisms are driven by a bimorph. (Japanese Patent Application No. 59-83700) has already been proposed by the present inventor. FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) are examples in which such a door mechanism and a lock mechanism are applied to a coin returning device.
FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a state where the door mechanism is locked by the lock mechanism, and FIG. 8B is a diagram showing a state where the door mechanism is opened by releasing the lock.
In the figure, 1 is a coin accumulating orbit, 2 is a dropout opening provided at the end of the coin accumulating orbit 1, 3 is a door mechanism for controlling the opening and closing of the dropout opening 2, and 4 is a biasing mechanism for closing the door mechanism 3. A bias spring, 5 is a bimorph as a drive device for driving the door mechanism 3, 6 is a lock mechanism that locks the door mechanism 3 when the door mechanism 3 is closed, 7 is a bimorph support, 8 is a coin, 9 is a power source, 10 Is a switch.

Briefly explaining the coin returning operation in such a configuration, the door mechanism 3 is rotated by the force of the biasing spring 4 as shown in FIG. 1 (a) when there is no coin on the coin accumulating track 1. The outlet 2 is closed. When a voltage is applied to the bimorph 5 and the bimorph 5 is displaced in the direction of the black arrow in FIG. 1A, the door mechanism 3 is locked by the lock mechanism 6. After that, the coins 8 rolling on contact the door mechanism 3 and are accumulated in the coin accumulation track 1. The gravity of the coins 8 causes the lock mechanism 6 through the door mechanism 3.
However, since the direction of this force is substantially perpendicular to the swinging direction of the bimorph 5, the force in the direction of the black arrow required to hold the lock of the door mechanism 3 may be extremely small.
Next, when the voltage is applied to the bimorph 5 by reversing the direction of the current and the bimorph 5 is displaced in the direction of the white arrow as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the lock mechanism 6 locks the door mechanism 3. , The coin 8 is released by its own weight.
Is pushed open against the biasing spring 4, and is dropped from the dropout port 2 to the return track. When the coin 8 falls off, the door mechanism 3 is pivotally returned by the biasing spring 4, and when the bimorph 5 is displaced again in the direction of the black arrow, the lock mechanism 6 locks the door mechanism 3, so that the accumulation of coins occurs. It will be possible.

In this way, the bimorph 5 does not require a large force in the swinging direction in order to maintain the accumulated state of the coins 8 and, at the time of the returning operation, only the frictional force between the lock mechanism 6 and the door mechanism 3 is reversed. Since it suffices to move it back and forth, if this frictional force is reduced, it is possible to perform the return process with an extremely small force. As described above, the coin processing device using the door / lock mechanism has a great feature in that it can be processed with an extremely small driving force, but on the other hand, the above-described configuration has a drawback that the recovery operation is delayed. That is, in order for the coin 8 to push away the door mechanism 3 and fall off, the door mechanism 3 must rotate near θ = 90 ° with one end as a rotation fulcrum, as shown in FIG. 1 (b). Therefore, the same rotation is required for restoration, and the operation becomes slow. Further, since acceleration is applied at the time of restoration, the door mechanism 3 may cause a chatter, and since the lock mechanism 6 needs to be operated after the chatter has settled, the restoration is further delayed.

[Outline of Invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a processing device in which a recovery operation of a door mechanism is fast and a coin can be processed at high speed with low power. Therefore, therefore, there is a dropout port provided at the end of the coin accumulation track, a door mechanism for opening and closing this dropout port, and usually the door mechanism is closed and when the coin arrives, it is opened by the weight of the coin. The door mechanism includes means for urging the door mechanism with a moderate force, a lock mechanism for locking the door mechanism when the door mechanism is closed, and a drive device for driving the lock mechanism. A coin working plate that is formed into an L shape to control the opening and closing of the drop opening is connected to one end so as to intersect the coin working plate at a required angle, and the other end is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft. Consists of a connecting plate and urges the door mechanism Means is constituted by a torsion coil spring mounted on the rotary shaft, the lock mechanism is to move in a direction substantially perpendicular to its own weight direction of the coin.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

〔Example〕

FIG. 2 is a front view of a coin accumulating track portion showing an embodiment of the coin processing device according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view of an essential part. The same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In these figures, 1A and 1B are coin accumulating orbits for accumulating two kinds of coins 8A ₁ , 8A ₂ , 8A ₃ ... And 8B ₁ , 8B ₂ , 8B ₃ ... These accumulation orbits 1A and 1B are almost vertical and are provided vertically and offset from each other in the thickness direction of the coin, and by tilting at the same angle with respect to the horizontal plane, the coin can roll and fall off at the end. The openings 2A and 2B are both configured to be opened / closed by the door mechanism 3.

The door mechanism 3 includes a coin action plate 20 that commonly closes the drop openings 2A and 2B, a rotary shaft 21 that is provided away from the coin action plate 20 on the coin accumulation orbits 1A and 1B side, and the coin accumulation orbit. 1A, 1
It is composed of a connecting member 22 that connects the coin action plate 20 and the rotary shaft 21 substantially in parallel with B, and the rotary shaft 21 is provided with a torsion coil spring 24 that gives the door mechanism 3 a recovery habit in the closing direction. It is installed. The spring force of the torsion coil spring 24 is set such that the door mechanism 3 is opened by the own weight of the coin 8A ₁ or 8B _{1 that} contacts the coin action plate 20. The rotating shaft 21 is rotatably supported by a bracket 26 attached to the outer surface of one side plate 25 forming the coin accumulating track 1A.

Next, the operation of the door mechanism 3 will be described. In the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 4, that is, when the coin working plate 20 closes the dropout ports 2A and 2B and the locking plate 6 locks the working plate 20, the bimorph 5 is displaced to the left by the application of a voltage. Then
When the locked state by the lock mechanism 6 is released, the leading coin
Since 8A1 and 8B1 push the coin action plate 20, the action plate 20 rotates counterclockwise about the rotary shaft 21 as shown by the chain line in FIG. Therefore, the coins 8A ₁ , 8A ₂ , 8A ₃ , ..., 8B ₁ , 8B ₂ , 8B ₃ … accumulated in the coin accumulation orbits 1A and 1B are the outlets 2
It falls from A and 2B and is returned to the return port.

Here, in the present invention, the rotary shaft 21 of the door mechanism 3 has the coin working plate 20.
Since it is located away from the device, the rotation angle θ (about 45 °) required for dropping the coin can be made smaller than that of the conventional device shown in FIG. Therefore, the recovery operation of the door mechanism 3 can be speeded up. The second feature of the present invention is that a torsion coil spring 24 is used as a means for urging the door mechanism 3. As the number of turns of the torsion coil spring 24 increases, the change in force with respect to the rotation angle decreases. That is, in FIG. 4, it is possible to reduce the change in the restoring force between the case of θ = 0 and the case of θ = 45 ° when the coin falls. Therefore, the acceleration applied to the door mechanism 3 at the time of restoration is smaller than that when other springs are used, and θ =
At 0, the door mechanism 3 is necessary and can be biased with sufficient force. Therefore, there is little chatter when the angle θ is restored to 0, and therefore the lock mechanism 6 can be quickly operated to lock the door mechanism 3. As the torsion coil spring 24, one having a wire diameter of 0.2 to 0.3 mm and a winding number of about 30 to 50 is suitable because it can generate a force of about 2 g to 6 g necessary for biasing the door mechanism 3.

FIGS. 5 to 7 show another embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a coin storing mechanism. FIG. 5 is a front view of relevant parts, FIG. 6 is a side view when not storing, and FIG. [Fig. 4] is a side view of the storage device.
In these figures, 30 is an escape mechanism, 31 is a trailing coin blocking pin, 32 and 33 are magnetic sensors, the escape mechanism 30 is rotatably supported by a shaft 34, and the lock mechanism 6 is integrated at the lower end. It is provided in. In this mechanism, unlike the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the lock mechanism 6 is configured not to be directly driven by the bimorph 5 but to be driven via the escape mechanism 30.

That is, one of the bimorphs 5 drives the lock mechanism 6 and the other drives the escape mechanism 30 that constitutes the trailing coin blocking pin 31, and the displacement end 5a thereof is the protrusion 35 of the escape mechanism 30.
Are linked to.

Next, a coin storing operation will be described. In FIG. 6, the bimorph 5 is normally displaced in the direction of the black arrow. Therefore, the lock mechanism 6 locks the coin action plate 20,
Lead coins 8-1 are accumulated on the action plate 20. The coin blocking pin 31 has exited from the coin accumulation track 1. In this state, when the bimorph 5 is displaced in the direction of the white arrow,
As shown in FIG. 7, the escape mechanism 30 rotates clockwise, and the lock mechanism 6 releases the locked state of the coin action plate 20, so that the leading coin 8-1 pushes the coin action plate 20 open to show it. Don't fall and store in the safe. Also in this case,
Since the door mechanism 3 has the same structure as that of the above-described embodiment, it is apparent that the rotation angle θ is small and therefore the recovery after the coin storage is quick.

When the escape mechanism 30 rotates, the subsequent coin blocking pin 31 enters the coin accumulating track 1 and blocks the rolling of the second coin 8-2. After the coin storing operation, when the bimorph 5 is displaced in the direction of the black arrow again, the door mechanism 3 is again locked by the lock mechanism 6, and the subsequent coin blocking pin 31 retreats from the coin accumulating track 1 so that the second coin 8 is moved. -2 rolls and moves onto the coin action plate 20 to become the leading coin. As described above, since the coin storing mechanism processes the coins one by one, the door mechanism 3 is required to have a particularly quick recovery characteristic. However, since the present invention adopts the above-described configuration, this requirement is sufficiently met. It is a thing.

The magnetic sensors 32 and 33 are for detecting whether or not the leading coin 8-1 is a regular coin.

8 and 9 are a front view and a side view showing an embodiment in which a coin storage mechanism is provided for each of a plurality of coin accumulating trajectories. The door mechanisms 3A, 3B ... And the escape mechanism 3 are shown.
0A, 30B ... Are substantially the same as those in the second embodiment described above. In this case, the coin accumulating tracks 1A, 1B, 1C are provided so as to be displaced in the thickness direction of the coins, and the bimorphs 5A, 5B ... Are selectively displaced according to the stored amount. Escape mechanism 30
A, 30B ... are stoppers 40, 41, 42 (42 is not shown)
As a result, it is normally held almost vertically by being prevented from rotating in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 9. In this state, the lock mechanism 6 locks the coin action plate 20, and the subsequent coin blocking pin 31 causes the coin accumulating track 1A. , 1B, 1C respectively. In addition,
Since the coin storing operation is as described above, the description is omitted.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the door mechanism. In this embodiment, the rotary shaft 21 is provided above and close to the coin working plate 20, the working plate 20 and the connecting member 22 are integrally formed, and the top coin 8 is received on the upper surface of the coin working plate 20. It is a thing. In such a configuration, the coin action plate 20
Since the distance between the rotary shaft 21 and the rotary shaft 21 is short, the rotation angle is larger than that at a long distance.
Therefore, it is clear that the chatter at the time of restoration can be prevented as described above. Therefore, even in this case, the locking operation by the lock mechanism can be accelerated.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the bimorph is used as the drive device of the lock mechanism is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and an electromagnetic magnet may be used.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the coin processing device of the present invention, since the operating angle of the door mechanism can be reduced, the recovery speed is fast, and the torsion coil spring is used as the urging means, which requires the recovery operation. The lock mechanism is quick and the coins can be processed at a high speed because the lock can be performed reliably and with a sufficient force. Further, since the processing device using the door / lock mechanism can process with an extremely small driving force, it is suitable to be applied to a coin storing and returning mechanism of a public telephone, which requires low power consumption and quick operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b) show an example in which a conventional door / lock mechanism is applied to a coin returning device. (A) is a locked state of the door mechanism, (b) is a coin returning state, and FIG. 2 is A front view of a coin accumulating track portion showing an embodiment of a coin processing device according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a view in the direction of arrow A of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a plan view of essential parts, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a side view in a non-stored state, FIG. 7 is a side view in a stored state, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are a plurality of coins. FIG. 10 is a front view and a side view showing an embodiment in which a coin storage mechanism is provided for each of the accumulation tracks, and FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the door mechanism. 1,1A, 1B …… Coin accumulation orbit, 2,2A, 2B …… Slipway, 3,3A, 3
B …… door mechanism, 5,5A, 5B …… bimorph, 6 …… lock mechanism, 8,8A ₁ , 8A ₂ , 8A ₃ , 8B ₁ , 8B ₂ , 8B ₃ , 8-1,8-2 ...... coin,
20 …… coin working plate, 21 …… rotating shaft, 22 …… connecting plate, 24…
… Torsion coil spring, 30,30A, 30B …… Escape mechanism.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Gosuke Yanashita 5-1027 Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo Within Anritsu Denki Co., Ltd. (72) Akira Tome 5-1027 Minamiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo No. In Anritsu Denki Co., Ltd. (56) Bibliography Sho 56-16286 (JP, U) Rikai 56-164372 (JP, U) Shokoku 51-24315 (JP, Y2)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A dropout port provided at the end of a coin accumulating track, a door mechanism for opening and closing the dropout port, normally closing the door mechanism, and when a coin arrives, the coin's own weight is used. Means for urging the door mechanism with a force of opening, and a lock mechanism for locking the door mechanism when the door mechanism is closed,
A drive device for driving the lock mechanism is provided, wherein the door mechanism is formed in a substantially L shape to control opening and closing of the drop opening, and one end has a predetermined angle with the coin operating plate. A connecting plate that is connected so as to intersect with the other end and is rotatably supported by a rotary shaft at the other end, and the means for urging the door mechanism is composed of a torsion coil spring attached to the rotary shaft. The coin handling device, wherein the lock mechanism is movable in a direction substantially orthogonal to the weight direction of the coin.