JP4178253B2 - Coin sorting machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a coin sorting device that sorts coins based on patterns formed on the front and back surfaces of coins.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 4 is an internal schematic diagram of a conventional coin sorting device. In FIG. 4, 11 is a coin insertion slot, 12 is a coin passage, 13 and 14 are sensors, 15 is a sorting gate, 16 is a reception passage, and 17 is a return passage.
[0003]
When the coin C inserted from the coin insertion slot 11 passes through the coin passage 12, data for determining whether or not the coin C is legitimate is collected by the sensor 13 and the sensor 14. . The coin C is identified as follows. That is, when the coin C is inserted into the coin insertion slot 11 and reaches the sensor 13 and the detection signal from the sensor 13 reaches a predetermined value, the identification operation is started. Each of the sensors 13 and 14 includes a coil that generates a magnetic field having a predetermined frequency and a magnetic sensor that detects a change in the magnetic field generated when the coin C passes.
[0004]
The output of the magnetic sensor without the coin C has a waveform as shown in FIG. In such a state, when the coin C passes in front of the sensors 13 and 14, the amplitude of the sensor outputs changes as shown in FIG. It is half-wave rectified by a waveform processing circuit and peak-held [FIG. 5 (c)], and further smoothed to obtain an output as shown in FIG. 5 (d).
[0005]
When the coin C passes in front of the sensor 13 and sensor 14, the output waveform shown in FIG. 5 (d) changes at a predetermined rate according to its material, diameter, thickness, etc. The correctness is determined by comparison with an identification reference value registered in advance in the memory. As a result of the determination, if the coin C is genuine, the sorting gate 15 is opened and the coin C is introduced into the receiving passage 16. If it is not legitimate, the coin C is sent to the return passage 17 with the sorting gate 15 kept closed. In the conventional coin sorting apparatus, coins are sorted in this way.
[0006]
As a conventional document related to such a coin sorting device, for example, there is Japanese Patent No. 2680680 (G07D 3/00).
[0007]
By the way, recently, crimes using fake coins made of white copper-based foreign coins that have been crafted with a drill or the like to resemble 500-yen coins, targeting vending machines, are rapidly increasing. On the other hand, since the sensor of the conventional coin sorting apparatus as described above captures and determines the average thickness and material of the coin, such a modified coin cannot be completely eliminated. From such a current situation, there is a demand for the development of a coin sorting device with higher accuracy, such as accurately discriminating between true coins and altered coins based on patterns formed on the front and back surfaces of coins. For that purpose, it is necessary to discriminate irregularities (patterns, drill marks, cutting marks, etc.) formed on the front and back surfaces of the coin.
[0008]
Therefore, by changing the sensor size and oscillation frequency, the magnetic flux of the sensor does not penetrate deeply into the coin and passes only to the surface of the coin so that the uneven state of the coin surface appears in the sensor output. Coin sorting devices have also been developed that can detect irregularities on the coin surface by adding an irregular sensor.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the coin sorting device to which such an uneven sensor is added, the speed at which the coin rolls in the coin path varies depending on the way the coins are inserted, and does not reach a constant speed on the coin path. As a result, there is a problem in that it is impossible to accurately determine which part of the coin the unevenness detected by the unevenness sensor, and the detection accuracy is lowered accordingly.
[0010]
An object of the present invention is to solve such problems and improve the detection accuracy of the uneven sensor by accurately detecting the unevenness of the central portion of the coin where the feature of the pattern of the coin is most prominent. To do.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the coin sorting device according to claim 1 includes a coin slot, a coin path provided downstream of the coin slot, and a first sensor provided on a side wall of the coin path. And having the same shape and the same performance as the first sensor, and spaced apart from the first sensor by a length between the diameter of the smallest coin and the largest coin on the side wall of the coin passage. The second sensor provided with a gap between the first sensor and the second sensor is smaller in diameter, and the distance between the first sensor and the second sensor is equidistant, And it provided with the uneven | corrugated sensor provided in the height position through which the center part of the coin which passes the said coin channel | path passes. If it does in this way, based on the output of the 1st sensor and the 2nd sensor, it will become possible to detect that the center part of a coin has come to the position of a concavo-convex sensor, and corresponds to the coin central part of a concavo-convex sensor. It is possible to determine whether a coin is true or false based only on the output.
[0012]
The coin sorting device according to claim 2 is characterized in that heights of mounting positions of the first sensor and the second sensor are made different. If it does in this way, the characteristic of the part from which a coin will differ can be discriminate | determined by a 1st sensor and a 2nd sensor.
[0013]
The coin sorting device according to claim 3 is based on the output of the uneven sensor for a certain period before and after the time when the outputs of the first sensor and the second sensor simultaneously reach a predetermined level. And determining whether the coin is true or false. If it does in this way, the unevenness | corrugation state of the coin center part where the characteristic of the pattern design of a coin will appear most notably can be detected correctly, and the detection accuracy of an unevenness | corrugation sensor can be improved.
[0014]
Furthermore, the coin sorting device according to claim 4 is configured such that the output of the uneven sensor before and after the first sensor and the second sensor is based on the time when the outputs of the first sensor and the second sensor simultaneously become a predetermined level. Whether or not a coin is true or false is determined based on a time difference from the time point or the minimum time point. In this way, the determination is simplified and facilitated compared to the case where the determination is made by comparing the patterns of the output waveform of the uneven sensor.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of the coin sorting device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sensor layout diagram. The sensor 1 is provided on the side wall of the coin passage 12 and changes its output according to the material, thickness, etc. of the coin when the coin inserted from the coin insertion slot 11 passes in front of it. The second sensor 2 has exactly the same shape and performance as the first sensor 1, and has the smallest diameter coin, that is, the diameter of the 50 yen coin and the largest diameter between the first sensor 1 and the second sensor 2. It is provided on the side wall of the coin passage 12 at a distance from the diameter of a coin, that is, a 500 yen coin.
[0016]
The concave / convex sensor 3 has a diameter smaller than that of the first sensor 1 and the second sensor 2 so that the output waveform varies in accordance with the concave / convex pattern on the surface of the coin C. The outputs of the first sensor 1, the second sensor 2, and the unevenness sensor 3 are subjected to processing as shown in FIG. 5 by the waveform processing circuits 4, 5, 6, respectively, that is, half-wave rectified. The peak is held and smoothed, and then input to the A / D input terminal of the microcomputer 7.
[0017]
The microcomputer 7 discriminates the material and thickness of the inserted coin based on the outputs of the first sensor 1 and the second sensor 2, and determines the central portion of the inserted coin based on the output of the unevenness sensor 3. Determine the unevenness. As a result, when it is determined that it is a genuine coin, the coin sorting mechanism 8 is operated to guide the coin to the receiving passage. At the same time, the appropriate signal output unit 9 is instructed to output an appropriate signal indicating the denomination of the inserted coin to the main control unit (not shown) of the vending machine.
[0018]
Although the coins are sorted in this way, in the coin sorting device of the present invention, the center of the coin C comes before the unevenness sensor 3 based on the outputs of the first sensor 1 and the second sensor 2. Is detected, and the unevenness of the coin is determined based on the output of the unevenness sensor 3 at that time. Next, the unevenness determination in the coin sorting device of the present invention will be described.
[0019]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sensor output waveform diagram. When the coin C is inserted from the coin insertion slot 11 and rolls through the coin passage 12, and the front end of the coin C comes to the position of the first sensor 1, the output of the first sensor 1 starts to change. Thereafter, when the front end portion of the coin C reaches the position of the unevenness sensor 3, the output of the unevenness sensor 3 starts to change. Further, when the front end of the coin C comes to the position of the second sensor 2, the output of the second sensor 2 starts to change.
[0020]
And when the center part of the coin C comes to the position of the unevenness sensor 3, since the 1st sensor 1 and the 2nd sensor 2 are arranged at equal distance from the unevenness sensor 3, the output of the 1st sensor 1 Both the amount of change and the amount of change in the output of the second sensor 2 coincide with each other as ΔV. Therefore, when both the change amount of the output of the first sensor 1 and the change amount of the output of the second sensor 2 are ΔV, the output of the uneven sensor 3 at T0 is always the uneven state of the central portion of the coin C. Will be shown.
[0021]
Therefore, when both the change amount of the output of the first sensor 1 and the change amount of the output of the second sensor 2 become ΔV, based on the output change of the concave and convex sensor 3 for a certain period before and after To, The uneven state is determined. As a determination method, for example, a reference pattern of output change of the unevenness sensor 3 is stored, and the detection pattern can be compared with the reference pattern.
[0022]
Further, paying attention to the peak or bottom of the output change of the concavo-convex sensor 3, the time difference T1, T2 from the time T0 to the previous or next peak or bottom is measured, and the ratio can be determined by comparing the ratio with a reference value. . For example, when the output change of the concavo-convex sensor 3 becomes a dotted line, the ratio of the time differences t1 and t2 is different from the ratio of the time differences T1 and T2 in the case of a true coin.
[0023]
Then, whether the inserted coin is true or false is determined by taking into account the detection result of the uneven sensor 3 and the detection results of the first sensor 1 and the second sensor 2.
Note that the heights of the mounting positions of the first sensor 1 and the second sensor 2 are different from each other because the thickness of the central portion of the coin is detected by the first sensor 1 and the second sensor 2 is detected. This is because the thickness of the edge of the coin can be detected.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
That is, in the coin sorting device according to claim 1, the first and second sensors having the same shape and the same performance are arranged on the side wall of the coin passage between the diameter of the coin with the smallest diameter and the diameter of the coin with the largest diameter. An uneven sensor having a smaller diameter than that of the first sensor and the second sensor was provided at a distance from the first sensor and at a position equidistant from the second sensor. As a result, it becomes possible to detect that the central portion of the coin has reached the position of the concave / convex sensor based on the outputs of the first sensor and the second sensor, and only the output corresponding to the central portion of the coin of the concave / convex sensor. Based on the above, it is possible to determine whether the coin is true or false.
[0025]
In the coin sorting device according to claim 2, since the heights of the mounting positions of the first sensor and the second sensor are made different from each other, the characteristics of different portions of the coin are different between the first sensor and the second sensor. Can be determined.
[0026]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coin sorting device according to the present invention based on the outputs of the concave and convex sensors for a predetermined period around the time when the outputs of the first sensor and the second sensor simultaneously reach a predetermined level. Therefore, it is possible to accurately detect the concave / convex state of the central portion of the coin where the feature of the pattern of the coin is most prominent, and to improve the detection accuracy of the concave / convex sensor.
[0027]
Furthermore, the coin sorting device according to claim 4 is based on when the outputs of the first sensor and the second sensor are simultaneously at a predetermined level, or the maximum time point of the outputs of the uneven sensors before and after the output. Since the correct / false determination of the coin is performed based on the time difference from the minimum time point, the determination is simplified and facilitated compared with the case where the determination is made by comparing the pattern of the output waveform of the uneven sensor.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of a coin sorting device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sensor layout diagram.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a sensor output waveform diagram;
FIG. 4 is an internal schematic diagram of a conventional coin sorting device.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating waveform processing of sensor output.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... 1st sensor 2 ... 2nd sensor 3 ... Concavity and convexity sensor 10 ... Coin sorter 11 ... Coin insertion slot 12 ... Coin passage 13, 14 ... Sensor 15 ... Sorting gate 16 ... Acceptance passage 17 ... Return passage

Claims (4)

A coin insertion slot, a coin passage provided downstream of the coin insertion slot, a first sensor provided on a side wall of the coin passage, and the same shape and performance as the first sensor, A second sensor provided on the side wall of the coin passage and spaced apart from the first sensor by a length between the diameter of the smallest diameter coin and the diameter of the largest diameter coin; It is smaller in diameter than the second sensor, is equidistant between the first sensor and the second sensor, and at a height position through which the central part of the coin passing through the coin passage passes. A coin sorting device comprising an uneven sensor provided. 2. The coin sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the heights of the mounting positions of the first sensor and the second sensor are different. Whether the coins are true or false is determined based on the outputs of the concave and convex sensors for a certain period before and after the time when the outputs of the first sensor and the second sensor simultaneously reach a predetermined level. The coin sorting device according to claim 1 or 2. Based on the time difference between the maximum time point or the minimum time point of the output of the unevenness sensor before and after that when the outputs of the first sensor and the second sensor simultaneously reach a predetermined level, 4. The coin sorting device according to claim 3, wherein false determination is performed.

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