JPS59103188A - Vending machine operable with coin and token - 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 (A) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a vending machine that can operate regardless of whether coins or tokens are inserted.

(B) Prior Art Conventionally, there are vending machines that operate with coins and those that operate with tokens, but in recent years there has been a desire for vending machines that operate with both coins and tokens. An advantage of such a coin and token type vending machine is, for example, discount sales. That is, by making it possible to sell even by inserting a token issued by a vending machine manager for the purpose of service, discount sales can be made to specific customers who have tokens. However, if a conventional token-only machine and a coin-only machine are incorporated into a single vending machine, the machine will not only become larger, but sales can only be made by inserting only coins or tokens, and a combination of coins and tokens will not be sold. It was not possible to sell the product by introducing it.

(c) Purpose of the Invention In view of the above, the present invention provides a miniaturized vending machine that is capable of selling by inserting a combination of coins and tokens.

B) Structure of the Invention The present invention measures the characteristics of coins and tokens inserted into an input slot using a coin sorting sensor, and compares this measured data with reference data regarding coins and tokens to determine the appropriateness of the coins or tokens. Then, the amount of coins or tokens inserted is calculated based on the determination result, and when the amount of money inserted reaches a predetermined amount, the product can be sold.

(e) Example - In the figure, (solid) indicates a coin sorter, and the coin input slot (9
) A sensor (1) is placed in the coin passage 0■ which communicates with the coin passage 0. And the end of the coin passage θ0) is the return passage 01)
The receiving passage θ is branched into two, and the distribution gate (
13) normally protrudes to block the receiving passage α2, and is configured to exit and introduce into the receiving passage α2 only when the inserted coin or token is correct. Furthermore, a slit sorting section (+4) intended for sorting by outer diameter is arranged in the receiving passage (+21), and coins are introduced into the coin storage pipe uG (16) (lη) for each type, and tokens are introduced into the coin storage pipe uG (16) (lη). Coin storage pipe f151 (+6) (Iη above and below are change dispensing devices.

(A force is arranged, and it is driven by a predetermined dispensing command to dispense change coins.The coin sorter according to this example also forms an alternating magnetic field with a sensor (1) to detect changes in inductance due to passage of coins. The purpose is to detect and determine the suitability and type of a coin or token based on changes in inductance.For this reason, the token has a similar shape to a coin and is made of a metal material so that it is sensitive to alternating magnetic fields. It may also be a non-metal plated material such as plastic or paper, or a non-metal material with a metal embedded or bonded to the material.

When a coin or token passes through the sensor (1), a measurement output of the change in inductance is obtained, and the peak value detection device detects the maximum value and outputs it to the determination device (3). The memory (2) also stores lower limit data and upper limit data for various coins and tokens as reference data. Therefore, when the measurement data of the maximum inductance change is inputted from the peak value detection device (1gI), the determination device (3) sequentially reads out the reference data from the memory (2) and compares them, and determines which of the reference data the measurement data exceeds the lower limit value data. and is less than the upper limit value data to determine whether the coin is a type or a token.If it is appropriate, distribution gate 0 (to) is activated and the coin or token is introduced into the receiving passage Q2+. The coins are further sorted by the slit sorter θ4 according to their outer diameters and introduced into the coin storage pipe (+51 (1, 6) (+7)) and the token storage pipe (4).

Further, the determining device (3) outputs a coin signal indicating the amount of the coin to the arithmetic device 01 according to the type of coin inserted. On the other hand, in the case of a token, a signal is output to the setting device (a) where the value of the token is arbitrarily set by the administrator of the vending machine, and a token signal indicating the set amount is output from the setting device (20) to the arithmetic device 09. is output to.

When a coin signal or token signal is input in this way,
The calculation device ([9 calculates the input amount in coins or tokens. Then, the sales control unit (5) determines the sales price based on the input amount in the calculation device a9 and the sales price of the product set in the price setting unit c21). Decide whether or not to proceed. If the product is available for sale and the customer specifies the sale by operating the product selection switch, the sales control unit (5) outputs a sales signal to the vending device (23) to initiate the sales operation, and if change is required, Change is dispensed by outputting a change dispensing command to the change dispensing device (power).

(f) Effects According to the present invention, coins and tokens are inserted into the same input slot, and their characteristics are determined based on the measurement output from the sensor. can be made smaller. Furthermore, if the inserted token is determined to be appropriate, the predetermined amount of money in the token is calculated by the calculation device in the same way as the amount of coins, so it is possible to sell by inserting a combination of coins and tokens.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is a configuration diagram of the present invention shown in blocks. (1)...Sensor-1 (2)...Storage device, (3
)...Determination device, (5)...Sales Control Department Patent Applicant

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An input slot into which both coins and tokens are inserted, a sensor that generates a measurement output regarding the characteristics of coins or tokens inserted into the input slot, and reference data for determining the suitability of coins and tokens. a storage device to be set; a determination device that compares the data measured by the sensor with the reference data to determine the appropriateness of the coin or token; an arithmetic device that calculates the amount of money inserted by the token or coin; A vending machine operated by coins and tokens, comprising a vending control unit that enables a vending operation when a predetermined amount is reached.