WO2000025274A1 - Dispositif et procede de reconnaissance de pieces de monnaie bimetalliques - Google Patents

Dispositif et procede de reconnaissance de pieces de monnaie bimetalliques Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2000025274A1
WO2000025274A1 PCT/SE1999/001927 SE9901927W WO0025274A1 WO 2000025274 A1 WO2000025274 A1 WO 2000025274A1 SE 9901927 W SE9901927 W SE 9901927W WO 0025274 A1 WO0025274 A1 WO 0025274A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
coin
outer ring
magnetic field
coils
inner disk
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/SE1999/001927
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Geoffrey Howells
Original Assignee
Scan Coin Industries Ab
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Scan Coin Industries Ab filed Critical Scan Coin Industries Ab
Priority to AU14305/00A priority Critical patent/AU1430500A/en
Priority to JP2000578785A priority patent/JP2002528829A/ja
Priority to DE69923857T priority patent/DE69923857T2/de
Priority to EP99971133A priority patent/EP1123537B1/fr
Priority to AT99971133T priority patent/ATE289694T1/de
Publication of WO2000025274A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000025274A1/fr

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07D—HANDLING OF COINS OR VALUABLE PAPERS, e.g. TESTING, SORTING BY DENOMINATIONS, COUNTING, DISPENSING, CHANGING OR DEPOSITING
    • G07D5/00—Testing specially adapted to determine the identity or genuineness of coins, e.g. for segregating coins which are unacceptable or alien to a currency
    • G07D5/08—Testing the magnetic or electric properties

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a coin discriminating device of the type having first and second coils positioned to induce and detect eddy currents in an outer ring and an inner disk, respectively, of a bimetallic coin, where a storage device is adapted to store coin reference data and a logic device is adapted to determine an identity of the coin by comparing the coin reference data to data obtained from the detected eddy currents and related to the conductivity of the coin.
  • the present invention also relates to a method of identifying a bimetallic coin, and to a coin processing machine including a coin discriminating device of the above type.
  • Coin discriminators which are arranged to measure the electric characteristics, e.g. the resistance or conductivity, of a coin by exposing it to a magnetic pulse and detecting the decay of eddy currents induced in the coin, are generally known in the technical field.
  • Such coin dis- criminators are used in a variety of coin processing machines, such as coin counting machines, coin sorting machines, coin validators for vending and gaming machines, etc.
  • Previously known coin processing machines are for instance disclosed in WO 97/07485 and WO 87/07742. The way in which such coin discriminators operate is described in e.g.
  • a coin testing arrangement comprises a transmitter coil, which is pulsed with a rectangular voltage pulse so as to generate a magnetic pulse, which is induced in a coin when being moved past the transmitter coil along a coin rail.
  • the eddy currents thus generated in the coin give rise to a magnetic field, which is monitored or detected by a receiver coil.
  • the receiver coil may be a separate coil or may alternatively be constituted by the transmitter coil having two operating modes.
  • EP-B-0 119 000 uses two transmitter coils with different effective cross-sectional areas.
  • the large coil is larger than the largest acceptable coin, whereas the small coil is smaller than the smallest coin.
  • the position of the small coil is such that the effective cross-sectional area thereof is covered by the smallest coin when passing along the coin rail.
  • the purpose of the small coil is to solve a problem that can occur if only a large coil was used.
  • the readings from the large coil are a function of the conductivity and diameter of the coin. A large diameter and a high conductivity both produce large coin readings. Hence, there is a problem in that coins of different diameter and conductivity can produce identical readings.
  • bimetallic coins have been issued on the market in different countries.
  • Well known examples of bimetallic coins are the French 10F, the British£, the Canadian $2 and the 1 and 2 Euro coins.
  • Bimetallic coins are made as follows. Outer rings and central disks are punched from sheets (also known as blanks) of the two metal or metal alloys, of which the bi- metallic coin is to be made. The disk is then fitted into the ring, and the coin is minted. Minting consists of pressing the coin between two hardened dies. The dies stamp the head and tail pattern onto the coin and also force the disk and ring together. The joint between the disk and ring is called a bond.
  • the inner disk When identifying a bimetallic coin, there are three conductivities to be considered: the inner disk, the outer ring and the bond between them.
  • the conductivities of the inner disk and outer ring depend on the metals used and do not change.
  • the conductivity of the bond between the two metals may vary to a large extent.
  • the bond may be a perfect conductor, if freshly cut metal surfaces are pushed hard together (molecular welding) .
  • the inner disk and outer ring are covered in an oxide layer before they are joined together, the bond will conduct less well. In extreme cases, with a thick oxide layer, the bond will not conduct at all.
  • bond conductivity is even more complex, since it also depends on the voltage of the eddy currents induced for the measurement. A large measurement voltage will "punch through" the oxide layer and indicate a higher conductivity than a low voltage. In coin discriminators, the voltages across the bond are small and these non-linear effects are significant.
  • the poorly defined bond conductivity in bimetallic coins causes problems for many existing coin discriminators.
  • the variability of the bond causes different readings from coins of the same type, thereby making a positive identification of the coin all the more difficult.
  • the small coil is located close to the coin rail (so as to cover also very small monometallic coins) , thereby generating eddy currents in a bimetallic coin, which will cross the bond and cause great uncertainty as regards the conductivity reading.
  • GB-A-2 323 200 discloses a coin validator for bimetallic coins.
  • An oval-shaped sensor 16 induces eddy currents, which are confined to the outer ring of the bimetallic coin. These eddy currents are detected and used for measuring the electric conductivity of the outer ring.
  • a separate, smaller coil 14 is used for measuring the conductivity of the central disk of the bimetallic coin.
  • an object of the present invention to provide an improved coin discriminator for identifying bimetallic coins. Moreover, an object of the invention is to allow the coin discriminator to be implemented by means of a small number of components. The above objects are achieved by a coin discriminating device, a method of identifying a bimetallic coin and a coin processing machine according to the attached independent patent claims .
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a coin discriminator according to one embodiment of the invention
  • Fig. 2 is a schematic lateral view of the arrangement in Fig. 1
  • Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a coin processing machine according to one aspect of the present invention.
  • the coin discriminator comprises a large coil 10 and a small coil 20, both of which are mounted to a support member 80.
  • the coils 10, 20 are connected to an electrical device (not shown) for supplying voltage pulses thereto.
  • the bimetallic coin 30 comprises a ring 40 of a first metal or alloy and a disk 50 of a second metal or alloy. A bond between the disk and the ring is labeled 90.
  • the coils 10, 20 act as transmitter coils for exposing the bimetallic coin 30, which is moved past the coin discriminator along a coin rail 70, to a respective magnetic pulse giving rise to eddy currents in the outer ring 40 and the inner disk 50 of the coin 30. Furthermore, the coils 10, 20 act as receiver coils for detecting the magnetic field variations generated by the eddy currents in the outer ring 40 and inner disk 50 and converting them into corresponding voltage signals. The voltage signals are supplied to a detector (not shown) , which is arranged to measure the decay of the signals and in response determine a respective value of the conductivity of the outer ring 40 and inner disk 50. The determined conductivity values are subsequently used for identifying the coin 30.
  • the coin discriminator is arranged to carry out the conductivity measurements when the center of the coin 30 is aligned with the center of the coils 10, 20, i.e. when the coin is located as in Fig. 2.
  • the small coil 20 is mounted relatively high above the coin rail 70, thereby assuring that the induced eddy currents will flow essentially exclusively in the disk 50 without crossing the bond 90.
  • the eddy currents induced by the large coil 10 will flow essentially exclusively in the ring 40, again without crossing the bond 90.
  • the conductivity measured is independent of the bond.
  • the duration and waveform of the voltage pulses supplied by the electrical device to the coils 10, 20 may be chosen in accordance with the actual application, as is readily realized by the skilled person.
  • the inventive coin discriminator is provided with a magnetic sensor element 60, preferably a Hall element.
  • the Hall element 60 is arranged to measure the magnetic permeability of the outer ring 40 and inner disk 50 of the coin 30. In this way coins with identical electric properties (e.g. conductivity) but different magnetic properties (e.g. permeability) may be differentiated .
  • the coils 10, 20 are driven to generate a respective magnetic field, to which the outer ring 40 and inner disk 50 are exposed. Depending on the magnetic properties of the ring 40 and disk 50, the magnetic fields will be influenced to different extents.
  • the Hall element measures the amplitude of the magnetic fields produced by the coils. The amplitude of the magnetic field from the large coil 10 indicates the permeability of the outer ring 40 of the bimetallic coin 30. Similarly, the small coil 20 measures the permeability of the inner disk 50. In the preferred embodiment, because two measurements are obtained from the Hall element, some form of multiplexing must be used, either frequency division multiplexing or time division multiplexing .
  • the large and small coils are driven by sine waves of different frequen- cies. For typical coins, frequencies of 9 kHz and 7 kHz would be suitable.
  • the output from the Hall element is a waveform containing both frequencies .
  • appropriate electronics e.g. synchronous detection, the amplitudes of the two frequencies can be measured.
  • time division multiplexing only one coil is driven at a time. For example, the small coil 20 can first be driven and the Hall element output measured. Then the large coil 10 is driven and the second measurement from the Hall element is made. Whichever method of multiplexing is used, the results are equivalent.
  • the coin processing machine 100 of Fig. 3 is selected to be a coin sorter.
  • the mass of coins to be sorted by the machine 100 are deposited into a coin inlet 110.
  • the coins are fed by a coin feeder 120, such as a hopper and/or an endless belt, to the coin discriminator 130, which has been described above with reference to Figs. 1 and 2.
  • the coin discriminator 130 is operatively connected to a logic device 132 in the form of a CPU, which is operatively connected to a memory 134, such as a RAM, ROM, EEPROM or flash memory.
  • the memory 134 stores a set of coin reference data, which is used by the logic device 132 to discriminate among the coins received through the coin inlet 110. More specifically, the coin reference data relates to typical values of conductivity and permeability for all different types of coins, that the coin processing machine 100 is capable of processing.
  • the logic device 132 is programmed to receive measurement data obtained by the coils 10, 20 and the magnetic sensor element 60, said data relating to the conductivity of the outer ring 40 and the inner disk 50, respectively, as well as the permeability of at least one of the outer ring and inner disk. Once these measurement data have been received for a coin 30, the logic device 132 will read the coin reference data stored in the memory 134 and search for any matches.
  • both the conductivity and the permeability measured by the coin discriminator 130 correspond to one specific coin type defined by the coin reference data, then the type of coin 130 has been positively identified. Otherwise, the coin 30 is of an unknown type, which is handled by a coin reject device 140, which preferably will deliver the coin through an external opening in the machine 100, so that the coin may be removed by a user.
  • the coin types defined by the coin reference data in the memory 134 may preferably relate to the denomination of each different coin type, which is to be handled by the coin processing machine 100.
  • the coin 30 is passed to a coin sorter 150, which uses the identified coin type to sort the coin 30 into one specific coin box, etc., in a coin storage 160.
  • the coin boxes, etc., in the coin storage 160 are preferably externally accessible for the user of the machine 100.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Testing Of Coins (AREA)
  • Control Of Vending Devices And Auxiliary Devices For Vending Devices (AREA)
  • Pinball Game Machines (AREA)
  • Basic Packing Technique (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un dispositif de reconnaissance de pièces de monnaie qui comporte un premier et un second bobinages (10, 20) disposés pour induire et détecter des courants de Foucault respectivement dans un anneau extérieur (40) et dans un disque intérieur (50).de pièce de monnaie bimétallique (30). Un dispositif à mémoire sert à stocker des données de référence pour pièces de monnaie, cependant qu'un dispositif logique détermine l'identité de la pièce de monnaie en comparant les données de référence aux données recueillies à partir des courants de Foucault sur la conductivité de la pièce. Un capteur magnétique (60) couplé au dispositif logique est positionné de manière à détecter un champ magnétique produit par au moins un des deux bobinages (10, 20) lorsque la pièce de monnaie (30) est placée entre ces bobinages et le détecteur magnétique. Pour la détermination de l'identité de la pièce (30), le dispositif logique exploite les données fournies par le détecteur magnétique qui sont en rapport avec la perméabilité de ladite pièce.
PCT/SE1999/001927 1998-10-23 1999-10-25 Dispositif et procede de reconnaissance de pieces de monnaie bimetalliques WO2000025274A1 (fr)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU14305/00A AU1430500A (en) 1998-10-23 1999-10-25 Bimetallic coin discriminating device and method
JP2000578785A JP2002528829A (ja) 1998-10-23 1999-10-25 バイメタル・コインの識別装置および方法
DE69923857T DE69923857T2 (de) 1998-10-23 1999-10-25 Verfahren und vorrichtung zum prüfen von bimetallischen münzen
EP99971133A EP1123537B1 (fr) 1998-10-23 1999-10-25 Dispositif et procede de reconnaissance de pieces de monnaie bimetalliques
AT99971133T ATE289694T1 (de) 1998-10-23 1999-10-25 Verfahren und vorrichtung zum prüfen von bimetallischen münzen

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
SE9803656-9 1998-10-23
SE9803656A SE523842C2 (sv) 1998-10-23 1998-10-23 Anordning och metod för särskiljning av mynt

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2000025274A1 true WO2000025274A1 (fr) 2000-05-04

Family

ID=20413078

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/SE1999/001927 WO2000025274A1 (fr) 1998-10-23 1999-10-25 Dispositif et procede de reconnaissance de pieces de monnaie bimetalliques

Country Status (7)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1123537B1 (fr)
JP (1) JP2002528829A (fr)
AT (1) ATE289694T1 (fr)
AU (1) AU1430500A (fr)
DE (1) DE69923857T2 (fr)
SE (1) SE523842C2 (fr)
WO (1) WO2000025274A1 (fr)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2003041021A1 (fr) * 2001-11-05 2003-05-15 Scan Coin Industries Ab Identificateur de pieces de monnaie mesurant la frequence des courants de foucault
EP1345185A1 (fr) * 2002-03-11 2003-09-17 Asahi Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha Sélecteur de pièces de monnaie
US7490709B2 (en) 2001-03-22 2009-02-17 Scan Coin Industries Ab Coin discriminating device and method, and a coin handling machine including such a device and method
US7584833B2 (en) 2003-09-24 2009-09-08 Scancoin Industries Ab Coin discriminators
EP2098999A3 (fr) * 2008-03-05 2009-09-23 Laurel Precision Machines Co., Ltd. Appareil de discrimination de pièces de monnaie

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP4682342B2 (ja) * 2005-07-13 2011-05-11 旭精工株式会社 弱磁性を有するバイメタルコイン用コインセレクタ

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2135095A (en) * 1983-02-09 1984-08-22 Chapman Cash Processing Limite Coin discriminating apparatus
US5119916A (en) * 1990-03-27 1992-06-09 Duncan Industries Parking Control Corp. Sensor for measuring the magnetically responsive characteristics of tokens
GB2266804A (en) * 1992-05-06 1993-11-10 Mars Inc Coin validator
GB2323200A (en) * 1997-02-24 1998-09-16 Mars Inc Coin validator

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2135095A (en) * 1983-02-09 1984-08-22 Chapman Cash Processing Limite Coin discriminating apparatus
US5119916A (en) * 1990-03-27 1992-06-09 Duncan Industries Parking Control Corp. Sensor for measuring the magnetically responsive characteristics of tokens
GB2266804A (en) * 1992-05-06 1993-11-10 Mars Inc Coin validator
GB2323200A (en) * 1997-02-24 1998-09-16 Mars Inc Coin validator

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US7490709B2 (en) 2001-03-22 2009-02-17 Scan Coin Industries Ab Coin discriminating device and method, and a coin handling machine including such a device and method
WO2003041021A1 (fr) * 2001-11-05 2003-05-15 Scan Coin Industries Ab Identificateur de pieces de monnaie mesurant la frequence des courants de foucault
US7537099B2 (en) 2001-11-05 2009-05-26 Scan Coin Industries Ab Coin discriminator where frequencies of eddy currents are measured
EP1345185A1 (fr) * 2002-03-11 2003-09-17 Asahi Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha Sélecteur de pièces de monnaie
US7584833B2 (en) 2003-09-24 2009-09-08 Scancoin Industries Ab Coin discriminators
EP2098999A3 (fr) * 2008-03-05 2009-09-23 Laurel Precision Machines Co., Ltd. Appareil de discrimination de pièces de monnaie
KR101032111B1 (ko) 2008-03-05 2011-05-02 로렐세이키 가부시키가이샤 주화 식별 장치
US8167110B2 (en) 2008-03-05 2012-05-01 Laurel Precision Machines Co., Ltd. Coin discrimination apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU1430500A (en) 2000-05-15
SE523842C2 (sv) 2004-05-25
SE9803656L (sv) 2000-04-24
EP1123537B1 (fr) 2005-02-23
SE9803656D0 (sv) 1998-10-23
DE69923857T2 (de) 2005-07-14
EP1123537A1 (fr) 2001-08-16
DE69923857D1 (de) 2005-03-31
JP2002528829A (ja) 2002-09-03
ATE289694T1 (de) 2005-03-15

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