JPS58107994A - Coin processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a coin processing system suitable for use in sorting coins in public telephones and the like.

In general, in devices such as public telephones that perform a certain operation by inserting a coin, it is necessary to determine whether the inserted coin is a specified genuine coin or not. Diameter.

Various methods have been put into practical use that focus on differences in weight, material, etc., and sort them mechanically, electrically, or magnetically.

However, this type of coin sorting system conventionally used in public telephones, for example, is a general coin sorting system in which each coin inserted from the coin slot is sorted one by one as it falls down the aisle, and a predetermined coin is selected. After confirming that the coins are genuine, they are accumulated, and the accumulated coins are
Since the method is to sequentially store coins in the safe in response to billing signals from the station, it is necessary to provide a separate coin slot for each type of coin, and it is also necessary to sort coins in case you do not know when they will be inserted. The device must be kept on standby at all times. For this reason, power consumption is large, which is particularly inconvenient for public telephones using a central power supply system that obtains the necessary power from an exchange via a line. In addition, in order to perform various sorting operations while transferring coins by their own weight,
It is necessary to have a sorting track with a certain level of head, and in order to temporarily store sorted coins,
It is necessary to have a dedicated accumulation track for each type of coin,
The size of the device was considerably larger than that of a normal desk telephone, and it was difficult to share parts between the two devices.

Furthermore, if coins are continuously inserted without interruption, for example, when identifying the outer diameter using an optical sensor, two or more consecutive coins may be recognized as one coin with a large diameter, or fake coins may be recognized as coins. When removing coins from the aisle, malfunctions may occur, such as removing the next consecutive specie coin.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a coin processing system that allows sorting of multiple types of coins using one coin input slot.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin processing system that can reduce power consumption.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a coin processing system that does not require a dedicated space for storing sorted coins and can be downsized.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a coin handling method that does not cause any trouble when coins are continuously inserted, and that can eliminate the insertion of counterfeit coins without interrupting the call. Our goal is to provide the following.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention sequentially disposes a first stopper, a coin sorting device, and a second stopper in the coin passage in the coin falling direction, and the coins stopped by the second stopper. If there is no coin, the first stopper is operated to cause the coins to fall one by one, and 3- the coins are sorted until they fall to the second stopper and are stopped by the second stopper, and , comprising a return device that returns only the coins at the second stopper position, and operating the return device according to the coin sorting result;
This allows counterfeit coins to be removed from their official storage locations. Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using Examples.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a public telephone to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a cover body constituting the main body of the public telephone, and a hook lever 2 is provided on the upper back surface of the cover body, on which a handset 3 is detachably hooked. Further, 4 is a coin input slot, 5 is a keyboard for dialing, 6 is a coin return slot, and 7 is a coin return button. Additionally, there are 8 transparent windows through which the coin passage placed inside the body can be observed.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the basic structure of the coin passage in the public telephone of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the coin passage 10 is constituted by a rail 11 forming a bottom surface and a side wall 12 forming a back surface. In this case, the front inner wall of the housing 1 shown in FIG. 1 is arranged in front of the coin passage 10, and the window 8 corresponds to the position shown by the broken line in FIG. The coin passageway 10 can be seen.

This coin passage 10, except for the portion connected to the coin slot 4 and the safe 13, descends from the coin slot 4 toward the safe 13 at a constant slope, and the coins 14 inserted from the slot 4 are It falls while rolling along this slope. On the side wall 12 of the part connected to the safe 13,
A guide 15 is provided to prevent coins from flying out. Still, the rail 11 has overflow mechanism sections 16 . Flappers 17 and 1
8, and the coins 14 discharged from the overflow mechanism section 16 and the flappers 17 and 18 are returned to the return port 6 from a lower discharge port, respectively.

On the side wall 12 of the coin passage 10 having the above structure, stop bins 2 for escape are arranged in sequence in the direction of falling coins.
0. Coin detection optical sensor G521. 1st stopper gm2
2. Optical sensor DA23゜DB24 for coin outer diameter identification
, material sorting and coin detection coil PD25°, second strike flange Cm26. An optical sensor CCK27 for confirming coin storage is arranged.

The detailed structure of each of the above parts is shown in FIGS. 3 to 6. That is, the third
The figure corresponds to the sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. In FIG. 3, the side wall 12 has a certain inclination with respect to the vertical direction, and the coin 14 is attached to the side wall 12 and the rail 11.
It passes through an orbit configured as follows. Still, the above side wall 12
On the other hand, a transparent body 1 which holds a coin 14 and has a transparent window 8
The front wall 1a of the two faces each other. In this portion, the rail 11 is constituted by a rail portion 17a of the flapper 11.

The flapper 17 has the function of rotating around a fulcrum 17b in conjunction with the hook lever 2 and the coin return button 7, and ejecting the coins 14 downward.

FIG. 4 corresponds to a sectional view taken along line IV--■ in FIG. 2.

That is, in FIG.
The locking part 22a at the tip is taken out from the hole 12a drilled in the coin 2, and the rolling coin 14 is stopped. On the other hand, the amacure 22b is attracted to the electromagnet GM28 and moves to the fulcrum 22.
When rotating around c, the locking portion 22a engages with the hole 12.
Pull inward from a to allow the coin 14 to pass through. At this time,
Although not shown in the figure, the stop bin 20 operates at the same time by a well-known escape mechanism. That is, when the locking part 22a is retracted from the coin passage 10, the stop bin 20 comes out into the coin passage 10 and prevents the next coin from moving. Then, when the first stopper 22 is restored, the stop bin 20 is also restored and withdrawn from the coin path 10, releasing the subsequent coins that were being blocked. As a result, the subsequent coin is transferred to the first stopper 22.
It moves to the position and is locked by the locking part 22a.

On the other hand, the flapper rm1B rotates around the fulcrum 18b due to the armature 18c being attracted to the electromagnet RM29. At this time, the rail portion 1B& draws inward from the side wall 12 and discharges the coin 14 downward.

FIG. 5 corresponds to the sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. In FIG. 5, the coin outer diameter identification optical sensor 23 is located on the side wall 1.
The light receiving element 23a arranged in the hole 12b of 2 and the coin 1
It consists of light emitting elements 23b arranged with 4 in between.

Further, FIG. 6 corresponds to a cross-sectional view taken along the line -Vl in FIG. 2. In FIG. 6, the material sorting and coin detection coil 25 is the receiving coil 2 disposed in the hole 12C of the side wall 12.
5a and a transmitting coil 25b disposed facing each other with the coin 14 in between, and both coils are electromagnetically coupled to each other.

The basic structure of the second stopper 26 is the same as that of the first stopper 22 shown in FIG. When the coin is attracted by the electromagnet CM30 and rotates around the fulcrum, the locking portion retracts from the hole in the side wall and drops the locked coin. The configurations of the coin detection optical sensor 21, the coin outer diameter identification optical sensor 24, and the storage confirmation optical sensor 27 are the same as the coin outer diameter identification optical sensor 23 shown in FIG. 5, and will be described later. Light receiving elements 21a, 24a, 27a and light emitting elements 21b, 2
Consists of 7b.

The operations of these stoppers, sensors, etc. are controlled by the arithmetic unit CPU as shown in FIG. That is,
In the figure, 31 is a public telephone circuit, and terminal Ll
, LQ are connected to the exchange via lines. 32
33 is a diode bridge circuit; 34 is a power supply circuit; 35 is a dial contact; 36 is a short-circuit contact; 37
indicates a communication circuit. The diode bridge circuit 33 is designed to always keep the polarity of the voltage supplied to the power supply circuit 34 constant regardless of the polarity of the DC voltage from the exchanger. 3
8 is supplied with a power supply voltage V. In addition, the dial contact 35
When the dial is turned, it opens and closes the number of times corresponding to the dialed number, and sends a dial signal indicating the partner's joining examination pair to the exchange to notify it.The short-circuit contact 36 closes at this time and closes the communication circuit. 37 to prevent the dial signal from affecting the communication circuit 37. Further, 39 is an input/output unit, 40 is a CPU, and 41 digits fixed memory ROM.

42 is a variable memory RAM, and the CPU 40 controls the light emitting elements 21b, 23b, 24b, 27 of each optical sensor mentioned above.
b and the coin material selection circuit 43, and receives and processes the detection outputs of the light receiving elements 21a, 23a, 24a, 27a and the coin material selection circuit 43, and sends control signals to the electromagnets 2B, 29.30 according to the results. and send them to work.

In FIG. 8, (a> and (b>) are fixed memories ROM, respectively.

It is an explanatory diagram of the contents of the variable memory IJ RAM.

Next, the operation of the coin processing device 38 in the public telephone set having the above configuration will be explained using the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 9(a) to (ci).

First, keeping a series of coin sorting devices, including the optical sensor 21 for detecting coins as shown in FIG. It is not efficient.

For this reason, the arithmetic unit CPU 40 uses a timer of 8 (1 ms) to set the timing to perform the sorting process that starts when the coin detection optical sensor 21 detects the inserted coin. , Every time the timer is set, the sorting process operation is repeatedly started intermittently at a cycle of 811m5.

Therefore, in FIG. 9, when one set time by the timer ends, the timer is newly set, and
A series of sorting processing operations as described below are started by driving the coin detection optical sensor 21, but after the completion of the series of operations, until the set time of 80m5 ends, there is no waiting for the billing signal. in a state.

That is, when the handset 3 is removed from the lever 2, the power is turned on to the arithmetic unit CPU 40, and the fixed memory ROM is turned on.
The program stored in 41 is started.

That is, the CPU 40 accesses the ROM 41 and executes the process shown in FIG.
Initialization is performed in step 100,
After that, the CPU 40 uses the timer processing area 41 of the ROM 41.
b is accessed, and in step 101 it is determined whether or not the timer has reached the end. If it is the end, the timer is set in step 102, and the CPU 40 accesses the = 11-ROM 410GS detection processing area 41c, and in step 103, the coin detection optical sensor G521 is powered on and becomes a monitoring state, and the coin is inserted. The presence of a coin 14 inserted from the mouth 4 is detected. In this case, as described above, the coin detection optical sensor os21 is connected to the coin passage 1.
Looking back from the light emitting element 21b and the light receiving element 21a which are arranged opposite to each other with 0 in between, the light emitting element 21b and the light receiving element 21
Whether or not the coin 14 is present between the pixel elements can be detected by whether or not the light reaching a is blocked. This detected GS information is temporarily stored in step 104.
The information is stored in the storage area GSM42a of the RAM 42, and subsequently, in step 105, the power to the optical sensor G321 is cut off.

Next, in step 106, it is checked based on the information stored in the storage area GSM42a whether or not a coin exists at the position of the optical sensor G521.

If the presence of a coin is detected, the CPU 40
41, the coil PD is powered on in step 107, and the PD information detected at that time is temporarily stored in the storage area 12-PDM 42b of the RAM 42 in step 108, and then in step 109. Cut off the above power supply.

As described above, the coil PD25 consists of a pair of transmitting coils 25b and receiving coils 25a, which are arranged opposite to each other across the coin path 10 and are electromagnetically coupled to each other.When the power is turned on, the transmitting coils 25b is supplied with an oscillation output of a constant frequency and a constant level from an oscillation circuit (not shown). On the other hand, in the receiving coil 25a,
Although a constant voltage is induced, the presence of the coin 14 can be confirmed because its level changes depending on whether there is a coin 14 between the two coils or not.

Next, in step 110, the storage area 'PniA42b
It is checked whether or not the coin 14 exists at the position of the coil PD 25 based on the PD information stored in the memory. If there is no coin 14 here, the CPU 40 accesses the coin sorting processing area 41e of the ROM 41 and executes step At step 111, the electromagnet 0M28 is energized to operate the first stopper gm22, and the coin 14 held by the first stopper gm22 is dropped. At this time, even if there are subsequent coins, they are stopped by the escape stop pin 20 as described above, and only one coin 14 is stopped by the first stop pin g.
22 and enter the sorting orbit.

Next, in step 112, the coin outer diameter identification optical sensor DA
23. Turn on the power of DB24, and in step 113,
After determining the diameter of the coin 14 that has passed through the first stopper gm22, sorting all coin types based on the diameter, and storing the resulting outer diameter sorting information in the area 42c of the RAM 42, the power source is turned on in step 114. Cut off.

In this case, the diameter determination is basically based on the time required for the coin to pass between the pixel elements, that is, the time required for the coin to pass between the pixel elements. This can be done by measuring the time during which the received light is blocked by the coin, but here two sets of optical sensors DA, 23 and DB24 are used. This is to avoid measurement errors when the falling speed of the coin is slowed down by dust accumulated in the coin passage. That is, for example, the time t required to pass through the optical sensor DB24
1 and the time t2 required to fall from the optical sensor DA23 to the optical sensor DB24t, the ratio 1+/1+ is calculated,
By comparing this with a reference value, accurate identification can be performed without being affected by changes in falling speed due to dust or the like.

Next, in step 115, the first stopper 22 is restored to the locked state, in step 116, the power to the material sorting circuit 43 is turned on, and in step 117, the outer diameter sorting information as a result of the outer diameter sorting is used to After determining whether the coin has the proper material for a type of coin having a diameter and storing the resulting material selection information in the area 42d of the RAM 42, the power supply is shut off in step 118.

That is, as described above, the output voltage level induced in the receiving coil 25a of the material selection circuit 43 is
The level differs depending on whether there is no coin 14 at the position 25 or there is, but when there is a coin 14, the level changes depending on the magnetic permittivity of the coin.

Therefore, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 51-32391,
5- By comparing the output level of the receiving coil 25b with a reference value, it is possible to determine whether the material is regular or not. In this case, since the material differs depending on the type of coin, a reference value is set for each type. Therefore, the optical sensor DA23 for identifying the outer diameter of the coin
．． Reading out the identification results from the outer diameter identification circuit using the DB24, and operating a material selection circuit having a comparison circuit that sets corresponding reference values according to the coin type,
It is determined whether the material is normal for the coin of the type.

Next, in step 119, it is checked whether it is a genuine coin or not, and if it is a genuine coin, the coin type is determined, that is, the current second coin is
In step 120, the coin type information indicating what type of coin the coin stored in position 6 is is temporarily stored in R.
It is stored in the storage area BLM42e of AM42. If it is not a genuine coin, in step 121, the electromagnet RM29 is energized to operate the flapper rm1B, and the pseudo coin is returned to the return slot 6 from the ejection port. This flapper rml 8 will be restored immediately.

Next, the CPU 40 accesses the billing processing area 41f of the ROM 41, and in step 122 it is checked whether or not a billing signal is input. If not, the process returns to step 101 at the beginning of the loop. However, if the timer does not end in step 101, the process moves to the subsequent step 122. On the other hand,
When the charge signal is input, in step 123, the remaining number of coins, that is, the coin 1 currently held in the second stopper cm26 is calculated.
Based on the coins inserted before 4 and already stored, it is determined whether the number of calls that can be made from now on is one or more. If this is less than one call, step 124
The contents stored in the storage area Bt, M42e are 1.
It is determined whether or not there are more than one call, and if there is one or more calls, in step 125, the electromagnet CM30 is energized to operate the second stopper CM26, and the locked coin 14 is passed. Next, in step 126, the storage confirmation optical sensor CCK27 is powered on, and in step 127
After performing processing such as checking the coins stored in the safe 13 based on the output of the optical sensor CCK27, step 1
At step 28, the power supply is cut off, and at step 129, the second stopper Cm26 is restored to the locked state. Thereafter, in step 130, post-processing such as updating the remaining memory count is performed, and the process returns to step 101 at the beginning of the loop.

On the other hand, when the billing signal is input as described above, if it is determined in step 123 that there is still one call or more remaining, the coin 14 at the second stopper cm26 is not stored. , immediately proceed to post-processing in step 130. Further, if the remaining number of calls is less than one call and it is determined in step 124 that the contents of the storage area BLM47e are also less than one call, that is, the second stopper cm
Even if you add the coin 14 at position 26, the remaining number is 1.
If the number of calls is not enough, step 131
The loop will be forcibly disconnected and it will be impossible to continue the call.
Post-processing is performed in step 132.

As mentioned earlier, the above loop is repeated at a cycle of 8 (1 ms) regardless of whether or not the coin 14 is actually inserted, so the coin 14 is detected by the coin detection optical sensor G521 in step 104. If not, the subsequent outer diameter identification operation and material selection operation are of course unnecessary, and the process immediately proceeds to step 122, where it is determined whether or not there is a billing signal.

After confirming that the coin 14 has been inserted by the optical sensor 21, the second stopper Cm26 is moved in step 110 while the coin 14 is locked in the first stopper gm22.
If it is confirmed that a coin exists in the coil PD25 at the position, the coin 14 moves to the 11th step 122 where it is locked to the first stopper gm22, and waits for a charge signal.

If the handset 3 is hooked to the hook lever 2 at any stage of the loop, the loop is cut and at the same time the hook lever 2 is connected to the flappers 17 and 1B.
is opened, and all the coins that have not been stored in the safe 13 and are accumulated in the coin passage 10, that is, the coins that are on the accumulation trajectory from the coin slot 4 to the first stopper 22 and the first stopper 2, are removed.
The coins on the sorting track from 2 to the second stopper 26 are
All items are returned to return port 6.

When the caller realizes that he or she has inserted the wrong coin and presses the return button I, the flapper 11 opens and the pseudo coin is returned to the return slot 6 along with the other coins in the accumulation orbit. will be returned to.

If coins are inserted from the coin input port 4 in excess of the capacity of the storage track, the overflow mechanism 16 operates to discharge the excess coins to the return port 6.

In this way, the inserted coins are stopped by the first stopper 22 and stored once, regardless of the nine types of coins, whether they are genuine or false.
Since the coins are sorted and stored later as needed, it is possible to sort a plurality of types of coins in one coin track, and there is no need for a dedicated space for storing sorted coins by type.

It's a trench, only when there are no coins at the second stopper 26.
The coin is dropped from the first stopper 22, and the coin outer diameter identification optical sensor DA23. It is sufficient to operate the DB 24 and the coin material sorting circuit 43, and there is no need to keep these sorting devices on standby at all times. Therefore, power consumption can be reduced,
It is ideal for public telephones powered by central office power.

Furthermore, by using the stored program method, there is no need to constantly monitor each sensor for coin detection and sorting, and it is possible to respond very easily and flexibly to changes in various conditions.

In addition, the coins 14 are once accumulated between the first stoppers 22''!f, and then sent one by one to the sorting track, so that the coins inputted from the coin slot 4 are immediately sorted. On the other hand, even when the materials are fed continuously without any interruption, there is no possibility of malfunction or other problems in the sorting device.

In addition, by providing the flapper 18, as a result of sorting,
When the coin is determined to be a counterfeit coin, the flapper 18 can be operated to remove the counterfeit coin. In this case, since there are no more coins at the second stopper cm26, the first stopper gm22 immediately operates and a new coin is fed into the sorting track, so that the call can be continued without any problem.

Furthermore, in the past, a dedicated storage space was required for each type of coin, and the coins were waiting in an almost vertical position, but such a dedicated space was inconvenient and The accumulation trajectory at stopper 22 is also the second stopper 26
Since the sorting trajectory up to the point is in a horizontal standby position in a sacroclastic state, the height of the device can be kept low, making it ideal as a tabletop type.

In the above embodiment, movable pieces rotated by electromagnets are used as the first and second stoppers, an optical sensor is used to detect coins, and two coin sorting devices are used as the coin sorting device. We will only explain the case that includes an outer diameter identification device using an optical sensor and a material selection circuit that utilizes the fact that the receiving side output voltage level of a pair of electromagnetically coupled coils changes depending on the magnetic permeability of the coin. these are,
Of course, various modifications are possible in carrying out the present invention.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the first stopper, the coin sorting device, and the second stopper are sequentially arranged in a direction opposite to each other in the coin falling direction, and the first stopper is moved to the first stopper position only when there is no coin at the second stopper position. By sorting by dropping one coin accumulated in the machine, it is possible to sort multiple types of coins with one coin input slot, and there is no need to keep the sorting device on standby all the time, reducing power consumption. Can be reduced. There is no hindrance to the continuous insertion of broken coins, and the height of the entire device can be reduced. Furthermore, by providing a coin return device that discharges only the coins located at the second stopper position, various excellent effects such as being able to remove counterfeit coins without interrupting the conversation can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external perspective view showing a public telephone to which the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the basic structure of the coin passage, and Fig. 3 -
Figure 6 is a sectional view showing the structure of each part of the coin passage, and Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of each part of the coin passage.
The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration of the coin processing device, FIG.
t, (b) is a diagram of the contents of fixed memory, variable memory,
FIG. 9 (a'r to (C)) is a flowchart explaining the operation of the coin processing device. 4... Input port, 6... Coin return port, 10...
- Coin passage, 14... Coin, 22... First stopper, 23. 24... Coin outer diameter identification 23- separate optical sensor, 25... Coil for material selection and coin detection. , 26...Second stopper, 28°29.30
...Electromagnet, 40...CPU, 43...Material selection circuit. Patent applicant Tamura Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Agent Masaki Yamakawa (1311 people) 24- Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 1F Figure 5 Figure 4 Figure 6 Figure 9 (b) Figure 9 (C)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In the coin passage, the first
A stopper, a coin sorting device, and a second stopper are arranged, and the coins inserted from the coin input slot are stopped and accumulated by the first stopper, and the first stopper is operated when there are no coins at the second stopper position. A coin processing method characterized in that a single coin is dropped by the coin and the coin is sorted by the coin sorting device. (2) In the coin passage, the first
In addition to arranging a stopper, a coin sorting device, and a second stopper, a coin return device is provided that discharges only the coins stopped at the second stopper position from the coin passage, and the coins inserted from the coin slot are removed by the first stopper. When the coin is locked and accumulated and there is no coin at the second stopper position, the first stopper is operated to drop one coin to the second stopper position, and during this time the coin is sorted by the coin sorting device. At the same time, the coin return device is operated by the sorting output of the coin sorting device to remove the counterfeit coins held at the second stopper position from the coin path and return them. method.