JP6342702B2 - Coin storage device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field for storing coins including coins and medals.

  In recent years, various types of vending machines, automated teller machines (ATMs), currency exchange machines, game machines, various coins, medals, etc. (hereinafter collectively referred to as “coins” in this application) Receiving coin processing devices are widely used.

  In such a coin processing apparatus, for example, a coin inserted from a coin slot can identify a coin denomination, a medal type, and the like (hereinafter referred to as a “coin class identification device”). Are stored in a storage container or the like for each classified type.

  As such a coin processing apparatus, for example, a coin processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 16 is known. In the coin processing device illustrated in FIG. 16, the coins 1601 identified by the coin identifying device 1605 are inserted into the coin storage container 1603 from the insertion port 1602. The coin processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 16 detects the accumulation state (whether or not it is full) of the storage container by using the sensor 1604 to detect the apex of the accumulated coins.

  Here, in addition to the coin processing device illustrated in FIG. 16, as a technique for storing coins, for example, the following patent document is disclosed.

  Patent document 1 discloses the technique regarding the money storage process in a cash accounting machine. The cash accounting machine disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a storage for storing money and a full detection unit that detects a full state of the stored money. The cash dispenser disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided with a full detection device at the lower end of the storage, and by detecting that the elevating stage on which money is placed in the storage reaches the lower end, Detect fullness.

  Patent document 2 discloses the technique regarding the coin processing apparatus which stores a coin in the stable arrangement | positioning state. The coin processing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a storage cylinder that stores coins, and vibration imparting means provided on the bottom surface of the storage cylinder. Such a coin processing device applies vibration to the coins inside the storage cylinder by allowing the pin body included in the vibration applying means to enter and exit the storage cylinder. Thereby, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 puts coins stored in a standing position inside the storage cylinder into a stable arrangement state (inverted state).

  Patent Document 3 discloses a technique related to a coin storage that uniformly stores medals, coins, and the like. The coin storage disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a slope and a passage for continuously moving the coin away from the accepting port at the lower part of the coin accepting port. According to the storage disclosed in Patent Document 3, the coins inserted from the coin receiving port are given momentum by the slope, roll in the passage, and are sequentially stored from a part away from the receiving port.

  Incidentally, although the object to be stored is not a coin, Patent Document 4 is disclosed in relation to a technique for detecting a full state of a storage container.

  Patent Document 4 discloses a technique related to a printing apparatus including a toner recovery box that stores waste toner. The printing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 4 includes a spring that supports a toner recovery box, and a toner full detection sensor that detects a full state of the toner recovery box. According to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4, the toner full detection sensor detects that the spring is compressed by the weight of the toner stored in the toner recovery box and the toner recovery box is lowered to a specific height. Then, the detection sensor determines whether or not the toner collection box is full using the detection result.

JP 2011-107753 A JP-A-8-329310 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-004869 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-251983

  Here, in the coin processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 16, the inserted coins may be concentrated in part and accumulated, and may not be stacked uniformly in the storage container. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 17, if the coins 1601 concentrated and collected in part are detected by the sensor 1604, the coin storage container 1603 is full even though there is an empty area. It is determined that there is. That is, in such a coin processing device, there may be a problem that the space of the coin storage container 1603 cannot be fully utilized.

  In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 18, when coins 1601 are accumulated in a region that is not detected by the sensor 1604, the coins 1601 may overflow to the outside of the storage container. That is, in such a coin processing device, there is a problem that overflow (overflow) of the coins 1601 occurs when the coins 1601 are unevenly accumulated.

  Furthermore, in the money handling apparatus, when the coins 1601 are put into the coin storage container 1603, the coin storage container 1603 collides with the other stored coins 1601 and bounces back. There may be a problem that the coin storage container 1603 may jump out of the outside. Such a pop-out of coins can be considered as a problem similar to overflow of coins.

  Moreover, in the money handling apparatus, it is determined whether or not the storage container is full by detecting the upper end of the accumulated coins. For this reason, there may be a problem that the number (number) of coins determined to be full varies depending on how much the coins are stacked. In order to avoid such a problem, when a storage box having a slightly larger volume than that in the case where coins are uniformly stacked, a problem that the apparatus becomes large may occur.

  Here, the storage disclosed in Patent Document 1 is based on the premise that the money to be stored is a banknote bundle or a wrapping coin, and the stored coins are not biased. For this reason, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is insufficient for solving the above problem in a situation in which the stored money may be biased.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for making the arrangement of coins to be accommodated uniform by a vibration mechanism or a peristaltic mechanism. However, a complicated mechanism is required, which increases the number of parts, increases the size of the apparatus, and the like. There's a problem.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 3, since the passage is filled as the number of stored coins increases, there is a possibility that the coins partially accumulate.

  Further, according to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 4, the full state can be detected based on the weight of the stored toner, but the stored toner may be biased. When a full state is detected based only on the weight, even if a part of the storage items loaded in a biased manner reaches the upper end of the storage box, the full state may not be detected depending on the weight of the storage items. For this reason, as described above, there is a possibility of overflow (overflow) of stored items (toner).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances. That is, the main object of the present invention is to provide a coin storage device that can store coins substantially uniformly so as not to overflow from the storage container.

  In order to achieve the above object, a coin storage device according to one embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the coin storage device according to one aspect of the present invention is guided by the coin guiding means having an inclined portion that guides the coins input to the own device in a predetermined direction, and the coin guiding means. Further, a coin placing means provided inside a coin housing case capable of storing the coins and having a placing surface on which the coins can be placed, and one end of the coin placing means abut against the coin placing means. The other end side abuts on the coin storage case to elastically support the coin placement unit, and is placed on the coin placement unit from the bottom surface of the coin storage case. The elastic means having an elastic constant capable of maintaining the height to the top of the coins at a predetermined upper limit height, and the coin placing means on which the coins are placed are compressed by the elastic means, or By extending it to a predetermined position in the coin housing case. And a storage status detection means capable of detecting that the mobile was.

  According to the present invention, coins can be stored substantially uniformly in the storage container so as not to overflow from the storage container. For this reason, the storage state (whether it is full) in the storage container can be detected based on the mass of the stored coins, and the space of the storage container can be used effectively.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the overall configuration of a coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a cut portion of each cross-sectional view illustrating the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an A-A ′ cross-sectional view of the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a B-B ′ sectional view of the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a C-C ′ cross-sectional view of the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a spring member constituting the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another example of a spring member constituting the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of sensors and detection indicators in the overall configuration of the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of sensors and detection indicators when coins are placed on the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the distance from the bottom surface of the housing case to the top of the coins placed when coins are placed on the coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. is there. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the coin storage device according to the first modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the coin storage device according to the second modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the coin storage device according to the third modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the coin storage device according to the fourth modification of the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a coin storage device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of a coin storage device, which is a technique related to the present invention. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a situation where coins are stored in the coin storage device, which is a technique related to the present invention. FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a situation in which coins overflow from the coin storage device, which is a technique related to the present invention.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The configurations described in the following embodiments are merely examples. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereto.

<First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a coin storage device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a cross-sectional view of the coin storage device in the present embodiment. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the coin storage device in the AA ′ cross section illustrated in FIG. 2, and is a view of the cross section seen from the direction of the arrow a illustrated in FIG. 2. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the coin storage device in the BB ′ cross section illustrated in FIG. 2, and is a view of the cross section seen from the direction of the arrow b illustrated in FIG. 2. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the coin storage device in the CC ′ cross-section illustrated in FIG. 2, and is a view of the cross-section viewed from the direction of the arrow c illustrated in FIG. 2. 2 to 5, some components included in the coin storage device illustrated in FIG. 1 are omitted for ease of explanation.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the coin storage device 100 in the present embodiment includes a storage housing 101 and a coin stacking unit (hereinafter referred to as “stacking plate”) 102 on which the coins 107 are placed. . The integrated plate 102 is installed inside the storage housing 101. The coin storage device 100 includes a spring member (elastic member) 103 that supports (elastically supports) the integrated plate 102 with respect to the storage housing inside the storage housing. In addition, the coin storage device 100 includes a sensor 104 that can detect the coin storage state (whether it is full) of the storage housing 101. The coin storage device 100 includes an inclined portion 105 that guides (moves) coins input (inserted) from a coin input unit 106a described later in a predetermined direction.

  In the present embodiment, a coin processing unit 106 may be provided separately from the coin storage device 100. Then, the coins 107 may be input (inserted) into the coin storage device 100 according to the present embodiment from the coin input unit 106 a included in the coin processing unit 106. In the following description, the coins 107 may be simply referred to as “coins”. Hereafter, each said component is demonstrated.

  The storage housing 101 constitutes a storage portion that can store coins in the present embodiment, together with an accumulation plate 102 described later. That is, the storage space 101a illustrated in FIG. 1 is configured by the inner wall surface of the storage housing 101 and the upper surface (the surface on which coins are placed) of an accumulation plate 102 described later. In the coin storage device 101 in this embodiment, coins are stored in the storage space 101a.

  The storage housing 101 may have an opening 101b in a part thereof. In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, an open portion 101 b is provided on the upper surface (upward direction in FIG. 1, a surface facing a coin processing unit 106 described later) of the storage housing 101. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above, and where the opening portion 101b is provided may be determined as appropriate. The coins 107 may be inserted into the storage housing 101 via the opening 101b. Further, the coins stored in the storage housing 101 may be taken out from the opening 101b.

  The storage housing 101 is formed to have an appropriate size (size) according to the amount (number of coins) to be stored. Moreover, the storage housing | casing 101 is formed in a suitable shape according to the shape, structure, etc. of the apparatus by which the coin storage apparatus 100 is arrange | positioned. For example, the storage housing 101 may have a substantially cubic shape or a substantially cylindrical shape.

  Moreover, the storage housing | casing 101 may have the latching | locking part 101c for arrange | positioning the storage apparatus 100, such as a coin in this embodiment, in arbitrary coin processing apparatuses so that attachment or detachment is possible. About the shape and arrangement | positioning of the latching | locking part 101c which concerns, you may determine suitably according to the arrangement | positioning method, arrangement | positioning position, etc. of the coin storage apparatuses 100 in this embodiment.

  Next, the integrated plate 102 in this embodiment will be described. As described above, the accumulation plate 102 holds the accumulated coins as a bottom surface constituting the storage space 101a. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the integrated plate 102 is substantially the same as the shape constituted by the inner wall surface of the housing 101 when viewed from the top surface direction (when viewed from the direction of the arrow a shown in FIG. 2). It has the shape of

  The integrated plate 102 may be in contact with the inner wall surface of the storage housing 101. Further, the accumulation plate 102 may have a slight gap (clearance) between it and the inner wall surface of the housing case 101. The slight gap may be, for example, a dimension that prevents the coins to be stored from dropping into the housing casing bottom 101d through the gap.

  The accumulation plate 102 is elastically supported by a spring member 103, which will be described later, in a state of being parallel or substantially parallel to the housing casing bottom 101d in a stationary state. The accumulating plate 102 can slide in the expansion / contraction direction of the spring member 103 inside the housing 101 in accordance with expansion / contraction of a spring member 103 described later. When coins are accumulated on the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102, a spring member 103 described later is compressed by the mass of the accumulation plate 102 and the accumulated coins. Thereby, the integrated plate 102 slides in the direction close to the bottom 101d of the storage housing 101 (the direction of descending).

  When the coins are not placed on the accumulation plate 102, the initial position is that when the thrown coins collide with the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102, the reaction force (bounce) caused by the collision causes the opening position 101b. The position is such that it does not jump out (is not released) outside the storage housing 101. Note that the initial position represents the height from the bottom surface 101 d of the storage housing 101 to the top surface of the integrated plate 102. A specific method for setting the initial position will be described later.

  Further, the integrated plate 102 may have a detection indicator 102a that is detected by a sensor 104 described later. How to configure the inspection index unit 102a may be appropriately determined according to the type and arrangement of the sensor 104 described later. In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, a sensor 104 described later is disposed on the bottom 101d side of the housing case. For this reason, the detection indicator 102a is provided on the lower surface of the integrated plate 102 (the surface facing the bottom 101d of the housing). In this case, the detection indicator 102a may be a substantially plate-like member fixed to a part of the lower surface of the integrated plate 102 as illustrated in FIG. In addition, this embodiment is limited to this, The detection parameter | index part 102a may be formed by protruding a part of integrated plate 102. FIG.

  Next, the spring member 103 in this embodiment will be described. The spring member 103 in this embodiment has one end (one end side) in contact with the integrated plate 102 and the other end (other end side) in contact with the inner wall of the storage casing 101. Arranged inside. Since the spring member 103 having such a configuration elastically holds the integrated plate 102 with respect to the storage housing 101, the integrated plate 102 is attached to the storage housing 101 as the spring member 103 expands and contracts. It slides along the inner wall.

  In the configuration illustrated in FIG. 1, one end portion 103 a of the spring member 103 is in contact with the lower surface of the integrated plate 102, and the other end portion 103 b of the spring member 103 is in contact with the bottom surface 101 d of the storage housing 101. In this case, one end side 103 a of the spring member 103 may be fixed or fixed to the lower surface of the integrated plate 102. Further, the other end side 103 b of the spring member 103 may be fixed or fixed to the bottom surface 101 d of the housing case 101. As such a fixing or fixing method, for example, any method such as adhesion with various adhesives, welding, fastening with screws or the like, and locking with various locking members may be adopted.

  FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration in which a compression spring is employed as the spring member 103. The compression spring may be, for example, a spiral spring or a coil spring. In this case, the state in which the coins 107 are not placed on the accumulation plate 102 is the state in which the spring member 103 is not compressed most. A state in which the housing case 101 is filled with the coins 107 is a state in which the spring member 103 is most compressed.

  The spring member 103 in the present embodiment is not limited to the above, and any spring that can elastically hold the integrated plate 102 with respect to the storage housing 101 may be employed. Therefore, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, such a spring member may be realized using a coil-shaped tension spring (a spring member 603 illustrated in FIG. 6). In this case, the integrated plate 102 is suspended at one end of the spring member 603 and the other end is fixed to the end of the housing 101. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the spring member may be realized by using a substantially spring-shaped spring member 703. In this case, the integrated plate 102 is suspended at one end of the spring member 703 and the other end is fixed to the end of the housing 101.

  Referring again to FIG. 1, when coins are placed on the accumulation plate 102, the accumulation plate 102 is lowered by compressing the spring member 103. When the coins placed on the stacking plate 102 collide with the inserted coins, the spring member 103 does not jump out (does not be released) from the open portion 101b to the outside of the housing casing 101. ) The collection plate 102 is elastically held at the position. That is, the spring member 103 elastically holds the accumulation plate 102 such that the upper surface of the coins placed on the accumulation plate 102 is at a constant or substantially constant distance from the opening 101 b in the storage housing 101. The setting of the spring constant (elastic constant) in the spring member 103 will be described later.

  Next, the sensor 104 in this embodiment will be described. The sensor 104 in the present embodiment determines how much coins are stored in the storage casing 101 (in particular, whether it is full) by detecting the position of the accumulation plate. The sensor 104 may be a mechanical sensor (for example, various push switches) or an optical sensor (for example, various photoelectric sensors). What kind of sensor is adopted as the sensor 104 may be appropriately selected according to the arrangement location of the sensor 104, the arrangement and shape of the integrated plate to be detected, and the like. For example, when a photoelectric sensor is employed, the sensor 104 emits output light using a light source such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode), and changes in light (light quantity) reflected or shielded (shielded) by an object to be detected. May be detected by detecting the presence or absence of an object to be detected. Since the photoelectric sensor may employ a known technique, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the sensor 104 may be disposed on a part of the bottom 101 d of the storage housing 101. When arranged in this way, the sensor 104 is moved to a predetermined position by compressing the spring member 103 by the stacking plate 102 on which coins are placed, as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. In addition, the detection index 102a is detected. In order to describe the arrangement of the sensor 104, FIG. 8 illustrates the spring member 103 with a broken line.

  For example, when a photoelectric sensor is employed as the sensor 104, the detection index 102a is held at a position where the sensor 104 is not shielded in a situation where coins are not placed on the accumulation plate 102 (FIG. 8). When the coins are placed on the accumulation plate 102 and the accumulation plate 102 is lowered (FIG. 9), the detection index 102a shields the sensor 104. That is, in this case, the detection index 102 a functions as a light shielding plate that can shield the sensor 104. Thereby, the sensor 104 which is a photoelectric sensor detects the presence of the detection index 102a. The sensor 104 determines the storage status (whether it is full) of the storage housing 101 based on the detection result. The sensor 104 may determine the storage status (whether it is full) of the storage housing 101 by detecting, for example, the degree to which the sensor 104 is shielded by the detection index 102a.

  For example, when various mechanical switches or press sensors are used as the sensor 104, the detection index 102a on the stacking plate 102 that is lowered by placing coins on the stacking plate 102 presses the sensor 104. To do. The sensor 104 may detect the storage state (whether it is full) of the storage housing 101 by detecting such a press.

  Next, the inclined portion 105 in this embodiment will be described. The inclination part 105 has the inclined surface 105a which faced the coin input part 106a mentioned later. Coins input (inserted) from a coin input unit 106a, which will be described later, hit the inclined surface 105a through free fall and are guided in a predetermined direction. Then, the coins guided along the inclined surface 105 a are discharged from the terminal end portion 105 b of the inclined surface 105 a and are accumulated on the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102.

  The angle of the inclined surface 105a and where the end portion 105b of the inclined surface 105a is provided are appropriately selected based on the shape and arrangement of the integrated plate 102, the shape and arrangement of the spring member 103, the shape of the storage housing 101, etc. You can do it. More specifically, the angle of the inclined surface 105a and the arrangement of the end portion 105b of the inclined surface 105a are determined according to which part of the mounting surface of the stacking plate 102 the coin 107 is to be settled. In this case, the shape and arrangement of the inclined portion 105 are based on the momentum of the coins 107 released from the end portion 105b, the distance from the end portion 105b to the stacking plate 102 (that is, the falling distance of the coins 107), and the like. Required theoretically. Then, based on the theoretically obtained shape and arrangement, further simulations, experiments using prototypes, and the like are repeated to obtain a specific shape and arrangement of the inclined portion 105.

For example, when the inclined portion 105 is provided so that the coins 107 are settled near the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the stacking plate 102, the coins 107 are stacked from the vicinity of the central portion of the stacking plate mounting surface. In this case, as will be described later, the stacked coins 107 are destroyed by the vertical sliding of the accumulation plate 102 accompanying the expansion and contraction of the spring member 103. The broken coins 107 are placed in a state of being distributed uniformly or substantially uniformly from the vicinity of the center of the stacking plate 102 to the peripheral edge.

  For example, the inclined portion 105 may be formed as a separate member from the housing case 101, and the formed member may be fixed to the housing case 101 by an arbitrary method. Further, the inclined portion 105 may be formed integrally with the storage casing 101 by deforming a part of the storage casing 101. More specifically, for example, the inclined portion 105 may be formed by projecting a part of the storage housing 101. Further, a bent portion that forms the inclined portion 105 may be provided so as to extend from the end portion of the storage housing 101.

  Next, the coin processing unit 106 in this embodiment will be described. The coin processing unit 106 identifies, for example, the denominations of coins input by a user or the like (not shown), and inputs the coins to the coin storage device 100 based on the identification result. The coin processing unit 106 may input coins to the opening unit 101b of the storage housing 101 via the coin input unit 106a. In the present embodiment, what kind of processing the coin processing unit 106 executes may be appropriately determined.

  Next, the coins 107 in this embodiment will be described. The coins 107 in this embodiment may be various coins that are money, various medals, or the like. Depending on how much such coins 107 are stored, the size of the storage casing 101 and the accumulation plate 102, the spring constant of the spring member 103, and the like are determined. Note that the coin storage device 100 in the present embodiment may be configured to store coins of a single type (denomination), or configured to store a plurality of denominations (types) in a mixed manner. May be.

  Next, operation | movement of the coin storage apparatus 100 in this embodiment comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated.

  First, a coin 107 is inserted into the coin processing unit 106 by a user (not shown). The inserted coins 107 are processed by the coin processing unit 106, for example, for each denomination or amount recognition. Thereafter, the coins 107 are input from the coin input unit 106a to the coin storage device 100 in the present embodiment.

  The input coins 107 collide with an inclined surface 105a provided on the inclined portion 105 and are guided along the inclined surface 105a. More specifically, the coin 107 that has collided with the inclined surface 105a falls from the terminal portion 105b of the inclined surface 105a to the upper surface of the stacking plate 102 by rolling or sliding down the inclined surface 105a, for example.

  Here, an initial position of the accumulation plate 102 in a state where the coins 107 are not placed on the accumulation plate 102 (“non-placement state” illustrated in FIG. 10) will be described. In the present embodiment, the initial position is set to a position where the coins 107 that collide with the upper surface of the stacking plate 102 bounce off and do not jump out of the housing case 101.

  As illustrated in FIG. 10, the distance between the upper surface of the integrated plate 102 in the initial position and the opening 101 b in the storage housing 101 is h2. In this case, h <b> 2 is a distance rejection (height) in which the coins 107 that have collided with the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102 bounce off and do not jump out of the housing 101. A specific method for setting h2 will be described later.

  Next, every time the coins 107 are inserted by a user or the like (not shown), the inserted coins 107 are placed on the stacking plate 102 as in the “placement state” illustrated in FIG. At this time, the coins input from the coin input unit 106 a are discharged to the stacking plate 102 via the inclined unit 105 and collide with other coins 107 placed on the stacking plate 102.

  In the present embodiment, the spring constant of the spring member 103 is set so that the distance (height) between the apex of the placed coins 107 and the opening 101b in the storage housing 101 is h2. That is, the spring constant of the spring member 103 is set so that any coin 107 does not jump out of the housing 101 due to rebound when the coins 107 collide with each other. Specific setting of the spring constant will be described later.

In the mounting state illustrated in FIG. 10, each time the newly inserted coins 107 collide with the stacking plate 102, the impact is transmitted to the spring member 103 that elastically supports the stacking plate. Due to such an impact, the spring member 103 expands and contracts in the vertical direction (a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom surface 101d of the housing 101). As the spring member 103 expands and contracts, the integrated plate 102 elastically supported by the spring member 103 slides in the vertical direction. Such sliding is transmitted to the coins 107 placed on the accumulation plate 102. For this reason, even if the coins 107 are biased and placed on the upper surface of the stacking plate 102, the biased coins 107 are destroyed by the sliding . As a result, the coins 107 are uniformly placed in a storage space constituted by the upper surface of the stacking plate 102 and the inner wall of the storage housing 101.

  Next, as a result of the continued insertion of the coins 107, when the storage case 101 becomes full as in the “full state” illustrated in FIG. 10, the sensor 104 is full. Is detected.

  As described above, the sensor 104 determines the full (full) state of the storage casing 101 illustrated in FIG. 10 by detecting the detection index 102a that has been lowered as the stacking plate 102 is lowered. When it is detected that the storage case 101 is full, the sensor 104 may notify the result of the determination to an arbitrary coin processing device (not shown) provided with the coin storage device 100 in the present embodiment. When a notification that the storage case 101 is full is received, an arbitrary coin processing device (not shown) may be controlled not to accept any more coins 107. Further, an administrator of any coin processing device may collect coins stored in the coin storage device 100 based on a notification that the storage housing 101 is full. Note that the manager may collect coins stored in the coin storage device 100 before the storage housing 101 becomes full, as necessary.

  In the present embodiment, even when the storage housing 101 is full, the spring member so that the distance (height) from the apex of the placed coins 107 to the opening 101b is equal to or greater than h2. A spring constant of 103 is set.

  Hereinafter, setting of the spring constant of the spring member 103 in the present embodiment will be described.

  First, as described above, in the present embodiment, when the coins 107 released from the inclined portion 105 collide with the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102 or other coins 107 placed on the accumulation plate 102. In addition, h2 is set so as not to jump out of the housing 101.

  For example, h2 can be obtained as follows.

  First, the coefficient of restitution between the coins 107 and the accumulation plate 102 or between the coins 107 is obtained from the materials and shapes of the coins 107 and the accumulation plate 102. Next, the momentum immediately before the coins 107 released from the inclined portion 105 collide with the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102 or the upper surface of the coins placed on the accumulation plate 102 is obtained. Such momentum includes, for example, the initial value of the momentum of the coins 107 inserted from the coin insertion portion 106a, the length of the inclined surface 105a in the inclined portion 105, various resistances (friction resistance, etc.) in the inclined portion, and the terminal portion. It can be theoretically obtained based on the distance of free fall of the coins 107 from 105b. Then, using the restitution coefficient obtained above and the momentum of the coins 107, a theoretical value of the height at which the collided coins 107 rebound is obtained.

  Based on the theoretical values obtained in this manner, the coins 107 jump out of the housing case 101 by repeating simulations and experiments with prototypes using the coins 107 that are actually stored. Find no height h2. In this case, the shape and material of the accumulation plate 102 may be appropriately selected so that the restitution coefficient between the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102 and the coins 107 is substantially equal.

  Next, the spring member 103 capable of realizing h2 described above will be described. In the present embodiment, the accumulation plate 102 is elastically supported by the spring member 103, and when the coins are placed on the accumulation plate 102, the spring member 103 is compressed. For this reason, by appropriately setting the spring constant of the spring member 103, the distance from the open portion 101b provided in the storage housing 101 to the upper surface of the integrated plate 102 in the non-mounted state, or mounted on the integrated plate 102. The distance to the apex of the placed coins 107 can be set to h2. Hereinafter, setting of the spring constant of the spring member 103 will be described.

  Note that the height from the bottom surface 101d of the housing 101 to the opening 101b is H, and the distance from the bottom surface 101d to the top surface of the stacking plate 102 or the apex of the coins 107 placed on the stacking plate is h1. Then, h2 is obtained as an expression “h2 = H−h1”. Therefore, in the following, setting of the spring constant with h1 as the distance from the bottom surface 101d to the top surface of the stacking plate 102 or the apex of the coins 107 placed on the stacking plate will be described.

  (I) First, the candidates for the spring constant are set such that the distance from the bottom surface 101d to the top surface of the accumulation plate 102 is h1 only by the mass (weight) of the accumulation plate 102 without placing the coins 107 on the accumulation plate 102. Is selected. In this case, the mass (weight) of the integrated plate 102 may be adjusted by appropriately selecting the shape and material of the integrated plate 102.

  (Ii) Next, from the number of coins 107 stored in the storage housing 101 and the mass (weight), the height of stacking when placed on the stacking plate 102 is obtained. More specifically, for example, when A coins 107 are placed, the mass (weight) of the coins 107 is C [g] (gram: unit), and the height to be stacked (stacking plate 102). The height accumulated on the upper surface of the sheet is determined to be B [mm] (millimeter: unit). Specific numerical values such as A, B, and C may be obtained by simulation, or may be obtained by experiments using actual coins and a prototype of the coin storage device 100.

  (Iii) Next, the spring constant of the spring member 13 is obtained from the relationship of A, B, and C obtained in the above. More specifically, when A sheets (C [g]) are stacked, a spring constant compressed by B [mm] is obtained.

  As a result, the spring member is compressed by B [mm] when A sheets are accumulated (B [mm] is accumulated), and therefore, from the bottom surface 101d to the apex of the coins 107 placed on the accumulation plate 102. Is kept at h1.

  (Iv) Next, the spring member 103 having an appropriate spring constant is selected by repeating the experiment using the coins 107 and the like actually stored based on the spring constant obtained in the above.

  The spring constant as a theoretical value is obtained, for example, by obtaining the above A (number) as the number of coins 107 that the storage casing 101 is full and B from the volume of the coins 107 and the volume of the storage casing 101. It may be calculated by obtaining C from A and the mass (weight) of the coins 107.

  In addition, since there is an influence of resistance such as friction that is difficult to consider with only the theoretical value in calculation, in the present embodiment, based on the theoretically calculated value of the spring constant obtained by the above (ii) to (iii). By performing the experiment as described in (iv) above, the spring constant that is actually employed and the spring member 103 having the spring constant are selected.

  According to the coin storage device 100 in the present embodiment described above, first, the storage state (whether full or not) of the storage housing 101 is determined based on the position of the accumulation plate 102 with respect to the storage housing 101. That is, since it is determined whether the storage casing 101 is full based on the mass (weight) of the stored coins 107, there is little variation in the number of coins 107 determined to be full.

  The spring constant is such that the distance from the upper surface of the stacking plate 102 or the apex of the coins 107 placed on the stacking plate 102 to the opening of the housing 101 is kept constant or substantially constant. The integrated plate 102 is elastically held by the spring member 103. For this reason, the inserted coins 107 do not jump out of the storage casing 101 by colliding with the upper surface of the stacking plate 102 or other coins 107 placed thereon and bounced back. That is, overflow (overflow) of the coins 107 can be prevented.

The integrated plate 102 is elastically held by a spring member 103 so as to be slidable . As the accumulation plate 102 slides as the spring member 103 expands and contracts, the coins 107 partially stacked on the accumulation plate 102 are destroyed. For this reason, the coin storage device 100 according to the present embodiment can uniformly stack the coins 107 in the storage housing 101 and store the coins 107 densely. Therefore, it is not necessary to increase the size of the storage housing more than necessary, and a vibration mechanism for uniformly placing the coins 107 is not necessary. According to this, the apparatus can be miniaturized.

  Furthermore, according to the coin storage device 100 in the present embodiment, the distance from the opening 101b of the storage housing 101 to the top of the placed coin is kept constant or substantially constant. For this reason, for example, even when the number of stored coins 107 is small, the coins can be easily collected through the opening portion 101b of the storage housing 101.

  As described above, according to the coin storage device 100 of the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a coin storage device that can be stored substantially uniformly so that coins do not overflow from the storage container.

<Modification of First Embodiment>
Hereinafter, modifications of the first embodiment will be described. In the following description, a configuration that is different from the first embodiment will be mainly described, and a redundant description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment will be omitted.

  As a first modification of the first embodiment, the coin storage device 100 is configured so that the input coins 107 fall on the end of the stacking plate 102 as illustrated in FIG. An inclined portion 1105 may be provided. More specifically, the shape of the inclined portion 1105 is such that the coins 107 released from the inclined portion 1105 settle on the end of the stacking plate 102 that is separated from the position facing the contact portion 103a described above. And the arrangement may be set. Note that the inclined portion 1105 corresponds to the inclined portion 105 in the first embodiment.

  As illustrated in FIG. 11, it is assumed that the central axis in the expansion / contraction direction of the spring member 103 is “D” and the integrated plate 102 and the spring member 103 abut in the vicinity of the central axis “D”.

  In this case, for example, the inclined portion 1105 is formed so that the coins 107 released from the inclined portion 1105 settle on the upper surface of the stacking plate closer to the inner wall surface of the storage housing 101 than the central axis D. . More specifically, for example, the end portion 1105b is extended so that the end portion 1105b of the inclined surface 1105a of the inclined portion 1105 is disposed closer to the inner wall surface of the storage housing 101 than the central axis D. You may set up.

  Further, as illustrated in FIG. 12, as a second modification of the first embodiment, the coin storage device 100 is configured such that the input coin 107 is the same as that described above on the upper surface of the stacking plate 102. The inclined portion 1205 may be provided so as to settle in a portion separated from the contact portion 103a. More specifically, the coins 107 released from the end portion 1205b of the inclined surface 1205a of the inclined portion 1205 are settled at a position away from a position facing the contact portion 103a on the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102. In addition, the shape and arrangement of the inclined portion 1205 may be set. Note that the inclined portion 1205 corresponds to the inclined portion 105 in the first embodiment.

  For example, it is assumed that the center axis of the spring member 103 in the expansion / contraction direction is “E” and the center axis “E” is separated from the longitudinal center of the stacking plate 102. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the spring member 103 is in contact with the accumulation plate 103 at a position that is long and away from the central portion of the accumulation plate 102.

  In this case, the inclined portion 1205 may have the same configuration as the inclined portion 1105 illustrated in FIG. Further, the inclined portion 1205 may be formed so that the coins 107 settle on the upper surface of the accumulation plate 102 in the vicinity of the center in the longitudinal direction of the accumulation plate 102.

  When the inclined portions (1105, 1205) are arranged as illustrated in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, compared with the first embodiment, the impact of the coins 107 settled on the accumulation plate 102 is caused by the spring member 103. Of the center axis (for example, “D” in FIG. 11, “E” in FIG. 12).

If an impact is applied to the location spaced from the spring member 103 rotates, the integrated plate 102, in addition to the oscillating sliding in the vertical direction due to the expansion and contraction of the spring member 103, around the contact portion 103a of the spring member Vibration in the direction (roll direction) may occur. For this reason, a greater vibration is applied to the accumulation plate 102, and the coins 107 stacked on the accumulation plate 107 can be broken down more effectively.

  As a third modification of the first embodiment, the coin storage device 100 is provided with an accumulation plate 1302 corresponding to the accumulation plate 102 in the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. Also good. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the accumulation plate 1302 is provided with a concave portion 1302 b on a part of the placement surface (upper surface) on which the coins 107 are placed.

  In the stage where the number of inserted coins 107 is small, by providing the concave portion 1302b, the coins 107 are stacked in a state of being inclined toward the concave portion 1302b. As the accumulation plate 1302 moves up and down due to the vibration of the spring member 103 described above, the coins 107 stacked in a state inclined toward the concave portion 1302b are easily broken. For this reason, the coins 107 can be placed (stacked) uniformly. It should be noted that the concave portion 1302b may be provided at an arbitrary location on the integrated plate 1302, or may be provided at a plurality of locations.

  As a fourth modification of the first embodiment, the coin storage device 100 is provided with an accumulation plate 1402 corresponding to the accumulation plate 102 in the first embodiment as illustrated in FIG. Also good. As illustrated in FIG. 14, the accumulation plate 1402 is provided with a convex portion 1402 b on a part of the placement surface (upper surface) on which the coins 107 are placed.

  In a stage where the number of coins 107 to be inserted is small, by providing such a convex portion 1402b, the coins 107 are stacked in a state of being inclined around the convex portion 1402b. As the accumulation plate 1402 moves up and down due to the vibration of the spring member 103 described above, the coins 107 stacked in a state inclined around the convex portion 1402b are easily broken. For this reason, the coins 107 can be placed (stacked) uniformly. In addition, the convex part 1402b may be provided at an arbitrary place on the integrated plate 1402, or may be provided at a plurality of places.

  Note that each modification of the first embodiment described above may be equivalent to the first embodiment except for the components described above.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. As illustrated in FIG. 15, a coin storage device 1500 according to the present embodiment is provided inside a coin storage housing 1501 that can store coins, and inside the coin storage housing 1501. A coin placement unit 1502 that can be placed. The coin storage device 1500 further includes an elastic member 1503 that elastically supports the coin placement unit 1502. The coin storage device 1500 further includes a storage state detection unit 1504 that can detect the storage state of coins (whether or not it is full) in the coin storage case 1501. The coin storage device 1500 further includes a coin guiding unit 1505 that can guide the coins inserted into the device itself in a predetermined direction. Hereinafter, each component will be described.

  The coin storage case 1501 forms a storage space capable of storing coins input to the own device together with a coin mounting portion 1502 described later. The storage case 1501 in the present embodiment corresponds to, for example, the storage case 101 in the first embodiment.

  The coin placement unit 1502 is provided inside the coin storage case 1501 and has a placement surface on which the coins placed in the apparatus itself are placed. The coin placement unit 1502 is elastically supported by an elastic member 1503 described later. The coin placement unit 1502 in the present embodiment corresponds to, for example, the accumulation plate 102 in the first embodiment.

  The elastic member 1503 is an elastic member capable of elastically supporting the storage portion by having one end abutting on the coin placement portion 1502 and the other end abutting on the coin storage housing. The elastic member 1503 is a spring capable of maintaining the height from the bottom surface of the coin storage housing 1501 to the top of the coins placed on the coin placement unit 1502 at a predetermined upper limit height. Have a constant. The elastic member 1503 in the present embodiment corresponds to, for example, the spring member 103 in the first embodiment.

  The storage status detection unit 1504 moves to a predetermined position in the coin storage case 1501 by compressing or extending the elastic member 1503 by the coin mounting unit 1502 on which coins are mounted. It is a sensor that can detect this. The storage status detection unit 1504 in the present embodiment corresponds to, for example, the sensor 104 in the first embodiment.

  The coin guiding unit 1505 includes an inclined unit 1505a that guides coins input to the apparatus in a predetermined direction.

  The coins that can be stored in the coin storage device 1500 according to the present embodiment include at least one of a coin (coin) and a medal.

  According to the coin storage device 1500 in the present embodiment configured as described above, the coins thrown into the own device are guided by the coin guiding unit 1505 and the end of the coin guiding unit 1505 Released from. The released coins are uniformly placed on the placement surface of the coin placement unit 1502, and the coin placement unit 1502 compresses the elastic member 1503 by the mass (weight) of the coins. At this time, the distance from the apex of the coins placed on the coin placement unit 1502 to the bottom surface of the coin housing case 1501 is kept constant or substantially constant.

  As a result of continuing to insert coins into the apparatus itself, the storage state detection unit 1504 detects that the coin placement unit 1502 has moved to a predetermined position by compressing or extending the elastic member 1503. Then, the coin storage device 1500 determines that the coin storage case 1501 is full based on the detection result.

  As described above, according to the coin storage device 1500 in the present embodiment, the storage state of the coin storage case 1501 (whether it is full) based on the position of the coin placement unit 1502 with respect to the coin storage case 1501. Is determined. That is, since it is determined whether or not the coin storage case 1501 is full based on the mass (weight) of the stored coins, there is little variation in the number of coins 107 determined to be full.

  Further, the height from the bottom surface of the coin housing case 1501 to the top of the coins 107 accumulated on the placement surface of the coin placement unit 1502 is kept constant or substantially constant. For this reason, the inserted coins 107 collide with other coins 107 placed on the placement surface of the coin placement unit 1502 and bounce off, so that the outside of the coin housing case 1501. It will not pop out.

The coin placement unit 1502 is elastically held by an elastic member 1503 so as to be slidable . For this reason, the coins partially piled up on the coin placement unit 1502 are destroyed by the sliding of the coin placement unit 1502 accompanying the expansion and contraction of the elastic member 1503. For this reason, the coin storage apparatus 1500 in this embodiment can closely store coins. Therefore, according to the coin storage device 1500 in the present embodiment, the size of the device can be reduced.

  As described above, according to the coin storage device 1500 in this embodiment, it is possible to provide a coin storage device that can be stored substantially uniformly so that coins do not overflow from the storage container.

  In the above, this invention was demonstrated as an example applied to exemplary embodiment mentioned above. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to such embodiments. In such a case, new embodiments to which such changes or improvements are added can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention. This is clear from the matters described in the claims.

  The present invention is applicable to a coin processing apparatus having a storage unit for storing coins. More specifically, the present invention can be applied to, for example, ATMs that store coins, currency exchange machines, various vending machines, various gaming machines, and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Coin storage apparatus 101 Storage housing 102 Accumulation plate 103 Spring member 104 Sensor 105 Inclination part 106 Coins processing part 107 Coins 603 Spring member 703 Spring member 1105 Inclination part 1205 Inclination part 1302 Accumulation plate 1402 Accumulation plate 1500 Coin accommodation Device 1501 Coin storage case 1502 Coin placement unit 1503 Elastic member 1504 Storage state detection unit 1505 Coin guidance unit 1601 Coins 1602 slot 1603 Coin storage container 1604 Sensor 1605 Coin identification device

Claims (10)

Coin guiding means having an inclined portion for guiding coins input to the device in a predetermined direction;
A coin placing means provided inside a coin housing case capable of storing the coins guided by the coin guiding means and having a placing surface on which the coins can be placed;
One end side abuts on the coin placement means, and the other end side abuts on the coin storage housing, thereby elastically supporting the coin placement means,
An elastic means having an elastic constant capable of maintaining the height from the bottom surface of the coin housing case to the apex of the coins placed on the coin placing means at a predetermined upper limit height;
Storage state detection means capable of detecting that the coin placement means on which the coins are placed has moved to a predetermined position in the coin storage case by compressing or extending the elastic means. And comprising:
Coin storage device. The elastic means can maintain the height from the bottom surface of the coin storage housing to the placement surface of the coin placement means when no coins are placed at the predetermined upper limit height. Having an elastic constant of
The coin storage device according to claim 1. The elastic means is a compression spring;
One end side of the elastic means is fixed to the bottom surface of the coin placing means facing the bottom surface side of the coin housing case,
The other end side of the elastic means is in contact with the bottom surface of the inner wall of the coin housing case,
When the coins are placed on the coin placement means, the coins are compressed according to the mass of the coins,
The coin storage device according to claim 1 or 2. The coin storage case has an open part at least in a part thereof,
The upper limit height is the coins guided by the coin guidance means with respect to the placement surface of the coins located at the upper limit height or the coin placement means located at the upper limit height. When the coins collide, the coins rebounded by the collision are at a height that is not released from the open part to the outside of the coin housing case,
The elastic means has the elastic constant set based on the upper limit height,
The coin storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The coin placing means comprises a detection index on the side facing the bottom surface of the coin housing case,
When the coin placing means on which the coins are placed compresses the elastic means, the coin placing means moves to the bottom side of the coin housing case,
The storage state detection means includes
By detecting the detection index in the coin placement unit that has moved to the bottom side of the coin storage case, the coin placement unit has moved to a predetermined position inside the coin storage case. Detecting that
Based on the detection result, it is determined whether or not the coin housing case is full,
The coin storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The inclined part in the coin guiding means has an inclined surface for guiding the coins by free fall,
In the end portion of the inclined surface, the coins released from the end portion are located near the central portion of the coin placement device, or near the central portion, or the coin placement device or the coins. It is provided at a position in contact with the other coins placed on the placing means,
The coin storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The inclined part in the coin guiding means has an inclined surface for guiding the coins by free fall,
The end portion of the inclined surface is arranged such that the coins discharged from the end portion are closer to the inner wall surface of the coin housing case than the central axis in the compression direction of the elastic means. It is provided at a position in contact with the other coins placed on the placing means or the coin placing means,
The coin storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The elastic means holds the coin placing means slidably in the expansion / contraction direction of the elastic means,
The coin placement means includes the coins released from the end portion in the inclined portion, and the coin placement means or the other coins placed on the coin placement means. The coins stacked on the coin placement means are placed substantially uniformly on the coin placement means by sliding in the expansion and contraction direction of the elastic means due to the expansion and contraction of the elastic means caused by the collision. The coin storage device according to claim 1, wherein the coin storage device is collapsed as described above. The placement surface of the coin placement device is provided with at least one of at least one recess and a projection.
The coin storage device according to any one of claims 1 to 8. The storage state detection means is a photoelectric sensor,
6. The coin storage device according to claim 5, wherein the detection index is a light shielding plate capable of shielding a photoelectric sensor.

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