JPS6057629B2 - vending machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vending machine that can successively insert a plurality of bills of one type into the same slot.

Vending machines equipped with a change processing function are generally configured to dispense change coins stored in a change safe as change.

However, in a vending machine that can use banknotes, especially a vending machine that can hold multiple banknotes, such as a train ticket vending machine (vending machine), N banknotes (N is 2
(integer greater than or equal to)), the amount of the item the customer requested (hereinafter referred to as the sales amount) is less than or equal to the amount corresponding to (N-x) bills (where x is an integer greater than or equal to 1). In such cases, if the entire amount of change is released from the change safe, more change coins will be used in one sale.

As described above, when a large amount of change coins are released in one sale, the change release time becomes longer and troubles such as change coins jamming are likely to occur.

In addition, the time required for one sale becomes longer in proportion to the time it takes to release change, and the amount of coins stored in the change safe is consumed, reducing the efficiency of vending machine usage. According to the present invention, even though N banknotes have been inserted, if the sales amount is less than the amount corresponding to (N-x) banknotes, x of the inserted banknotes will be To provide a vending machine capable of reducing the number of change coins released in one sale by returning them to customers as part of the change.

The embodiments shown in the drawings will be described below. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a known discriminating machine for discriminating banknotes inserted into the bill slot 3 of the customer service panel 2, and is equipped with a bill conveyance mechanism 4 using a pair of endless belts. The banknotes inserted into the bank are transported by the transport mechanism 4 from the left to the right in the figure, and are discriminated during this time. If the banknotes are fraudulent, the banknotes are reversely transported by the transport mechanism 4 and returned to the slot 3. has been done. The input slot 3 is provided with a shutter mechanism (not shown) that prohibits the insertion of the next banknote until the discrimination of the previously input banknote is completed. 5 is identification machine 1
This is a storage mechanism that temporarily stores banknotes sent from the banknotes by sequentially overlapping them and arranging them in a state shifted by a certain amount along the conveyance direction. Feed roller R.

, RO'', and nine pairs of rollers Rl, Rl'', R2'', which are sequentially spaced apart by the same distance as the shift amount of the bill.
. . R,, R9'', a rotor 6 that deflects the rear end side of the banknote fed to the rollers Rl, Rl'' from the banknote transport path, and two banknote detectors 7, 8. . The distance between the feeding rollers RO, RO'' and the rollers Rl, R/ is selected to be slightly shorter than the length of the banknote in the transport direction, and the rotor 6 is provided approximately in the middle between the two.Banknote detector 7 and 8 are detectors for synchronizing the start of rotation of the rollers R1 to R9, and the detector 7 is spaced from the rollers Rl, R/ toward the discriminator 1 by a distance slightly longer than the length of the banknote in the conveying direction. The detector 8 is provided at a position spaced apart from the rollers Rl, Rl'' toward the discriminator 1 by one half of the amount by which the banknote is shifted.

As each of the detectors 7 and 8, a photo sensor, a microswitch, etc. made of a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element can be used. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotor 6 is attached to a pair of parallel bars 9, 10 extending laterally, connecting members 11, 11 connecting both ends of the bars 9, 10, and connecting members 11, 11. It is composed of shafts 12, 12,
One shaft is connected to a drive source (not shown).

The shafts 12, 12 of this rotor 6 are supported by the frame so that the line connecting the centers of the shafts 12, 12 coincides with the banknote conveying surface, and when the rotation of the roller R1 stops, the rotation of the roller R1 is divided into two parts. It is rotated only one revolution. When the rotor 6 is stopped, one of the bars 9 and 10 is located on the upper side and the other is located on the lower side with respect to the banknote conveying surface, and when the rotor 6 is rotating, the bars 9 and 10 are positioned on the right side in FIG. Rotate in the surrounding direction. Laura R.

-R9, the upper roller RJ-R9 among RO'' to R9''
'' is a pinch roller that presses the bill against the lower roller R.-R9 than the elastic force of a spring (not shown), and the lower roller R.-R9 is individually connected to a drive source (not shown). drive rollers connected to the frame (
(not shown). Drive roller R1~R
, are connected to individual drive sources or to a common drive source via an electromagnetic clutch or the like so that they can rotate independently. An electromagnetic brake (not shown) is provided on each shaft of each drive roller R1 to R9, or each drive roller R1 to R9 and each pinch roller R1'' to R9''. Further, the drive roller RO is connected to a drive source (not shown) of the transport mechanism 4 so as to rotate simultaneously with the transport mechanism 4 of the discriminator 1 . Feed roll R. , RJ can be shared with the transport mechanism 4. 13 is a storage mechanism 5
14 is a collection transport mechanism for transporting banknotes temporarily stored in a safe (not shown), and reference numeral 14 is a collection transport mechanism for transporting banknotes temporarily stored in a safe (not shown). ) is a transportation mechanism for returns.

Each transport mechanism 13, 14 uses a pair of endless belts in this example. 15 guides the banknotes fed from the storage mechanism 5 to the transport mechanism 13 when storing them, and guides them to the transport mechanism 1 when returning them.
This is a deflection mechanism that guides the

Reference numeral 16 denotes a banknote detector of the same type as the banknote detectors 7 and 8, and is provided at the end of the conveyance mechanism 14 on the deflecting mechanism 15 side.

In the above device, when a banknote is inserted into the input slot 3, the discriminating machine 1 transports the banknote by the transport mechanism 4, determines the authenticity of the banknote during that time, and if the banknote is a fraudulent banknote, the banknote is activated by the transport mechanism 4. The banknotes are driven in the opposite direction to return the fraudulent banknotes to the slot 3 as they are, and if they are genuine banknotes, they are sent to the storage mechanism 5. The storage mechanism 5 is a roller R.

- Since the RJ rotates in synchronization with the transport mechanism 4, the identification machine 1
The banknotes (first banknotes) fed from the roller R. -RO''
The roller Rl, through the bars 9 and 10 of the rotor 6
Then, when the rear end of the first banknote passes the banknote detector 7, the rollers R1 to R9 simultaneously rotate for a certain period of time to slightly transport the first banknote. In this state, The starting end of the first bill is located between rollers R1 and R2, and the trailing end is located between roller R. and rotor 6.
When the rotation of the rollers R1 to R9 stops, the rotor 6 is driven and rotates one half rotation, deflecting the rear end side of the first banknote P1 held between the rollers Rl and Rl'' downward, and enters a standby state. In the above-mentioned standby state, when the next banknote (second banknote) is fed to the storage mechanism 5, the second banknote passes under the banknote detector 7, causing the rollers R1 to R9 to move for a certain period of time. The rotor 6 rotates, and then the rotor 6 rotates by 1/2 and enters a standby state.

In this standby state, the second banknote is stacked on top of the first banknote, and the starting end is shifted backward by the amount conveyed by the rollers R1 to R9. Therefore, the starting edge of the first bill is between rollers R2 and R3, and the starting edge of the second bill is between rollers R1 and R2. Thereafter, each time the banknotes are fed, the rollers R1 to R9 and the rotor 6 rotate to temporarily store the banknotes while stacking and aligning the banknotes with a certain amount of displacement. Rollers Rl, Rl'', R2, R2''...
. . . The process of stacking and arranging banknotes by shifting them by a certain amount using R9, R,'' and the rotor 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the first banknote P1
. , RO'', the rollers R1 to R9 and the rotor 7 are at rest, and the rotor 6 has the bar 9 upward with respect to the conveyance path of the banknote.
Bar 10 is at the bottom. Therefore, the first banknote P1 is bar 9
, 10 toward the rollers Rl, R/. When the first banknote P1 passes under the banknote detector 7,
Of the output signal of the bill detector 7, a portion corresponding to the trailing edge of the bill is detected by a trailing edge detection circuit (not shown), and the rollers R1 to R9 are simultaneously rotated for a certain period of time based on the output signal. One banknote P1 is conveyed until the leading end is located between rollers R1 and R2 as shown in FIG. 3B.

At this point, the first banknote P1 has its tip end facing the rollers Rl and R.
The rear end is separated from the rollers R.,RO''. When the rotation of the rollers R1 to R9 stops, the rotor 6 then rotates one-half rotation in the clockwise direction in FIG. In this state, as shown in FIG. 3C, the bar 9 is on the lower side and the bar 10 is on the upper side with respect to the banknote conveyance path, and the rear end side of the first banknote P1 is directed downward from the banknote conveyance path by the bar 9. be pushed down. After the first banknotes P1 and the rotor 6 are in the state shown in FIG. 3C, the second banknotes are moved to the roller R.

, RO'', the second banknote P2 is fed by the roller R.,RO'' with the upper rear end side of the first banknote P1 facing the roller Rl,R/, as shown in FIG. 3D. transported. When the rear end of the second banknote P2 passes the banknote detector 7, the rollers R1 to R9 rotate again for a certain period of time to convey the banknotes P1 and P2 simultaneously. In this state, as shown in FIG. 3E, the starting edge of the first bill P2 is between rollers R2 and R3, the starting edge of the second bill P2 is between rollers R1 and R2, and both bills are The starting ends are overlapped with each other by the amount of one conveyance by the rollers R1 to R9. When the rotation of the rollers R1 to R9 stops, the rotor 6 makes one-half turn again, and the bar 10 pushes down the rear end side of the banknote.

From then on, each time a banknote is fed from the validating machine 1, the roller R
1 to R9, the rotor 6 is rotated. As described above, the storage mechanism 5 stores the supplied banknotes through the rollers R1 to
Each time R9 rotates, they are temporarily stored in a state in which they are shifted by a certain amount and overlapped one after another. In this example, as shown in FIG. 4A, a maximum of five banknotes P1 to P5 can be stacked and arranged in a state shifted by a certain amount along the banknote transport direction. In the state where 5 banknotes are stored,
As shown in FIG. 4A, the starting end of each l banknote is the first banknote P
1 between rollers R5 and R6, and second bill P2 between rollers R4.
, R5, the third banknote P3 is located between R3 and R4, the fourth banknote P4 is located between rollers R2 and R3, and the fifth banknote P5 is located between rollers R1 and R2.

Furthermore, when four banknotes are stored, each banknote is stored in the state in which the first banknote P1 in FIG. 4A is removed, and similarly, three or two banknotes are stored. In this state, each banknote is a first banknote P1, a second banknote P2,
Alternatively, the banknotes are stored in a state in which the first to third banknotes Pl, P2, and P3 are removed. In addition, in FIG. 4, each roller R1 to R9
Instead of illustrating the respective installation positions, R1 is Rl
, R2 is R2, R3 is R3, . . . R9 is R, and is indicated by a dashed dotted line.

Furthermore, the portion of each banknote behind the roller R1 is actually pushed down by the rotor 6. As mentioned above, when a customer operates the selection push button switch corresponding to an item in the range of 200 Cf3 to 3000 yen while storing 5 banknotes, for example, 5 1000P bills, the rollers R1 to R9 Simultaneously drive each banknote P~
P3 is conveyed until the rear end of the last banknote P5 reaches the lower side of the banknote detector 8.

Therefore, each bill P1 to P5 is conveyed by a distance of 1, so that as shown in FIG. 4B, the trailing edge of P1 is between rollers R4 and R5, P2 is between R3 and R4, and P3 is between rollers R2 P2 is located between R1 and R2, P1 is located below the banknote detector 8, and the starting end of P1 is located between P9 and the deflection mechanism 15.
In between, P2 is located between R3 and R9, P3 is located between R7 and R3, P4 is located between R6 and R5E, and P5 is located between R and R5B. Each banknote P1 to P5
is conveyed by a distance of 1, in this case it is only necessary to return two bills, so the part corresponding to the rear end of the last bill P5 is detected in the output signal of the bill detector 8. The electromagnetic brakes of the rollers Rl, R2, and R3 are energized to prohibit their rotation, and the conveyance mechanism 14 and the deflection mechanism 15 are energized to operate each mechanism, and the rollers R8 and R9 are energized.
is rotated.

Therefore, the first banknote P1 and the second banknote P2 are deflected by the deflection mechanism 15.
is fed to the transport mechanism 14 and transported to the return port on the customer service area. When the rear end of the banknote P2 reaches the installation location of the banknote detector 16, the output signal from the banknote detector 16 causes the deflection mechanism 15 to return, and the rollers R1 to R9 and the transport mechanism 13 operate to move the storage mechanism 5 Banknotes P to remain inside
3, P4, and P5 are transported to the safe.

Note that when the amount of change is less than 100 Cf3, a known change dispenser that dispenses change coins is operated. As mentioned above, five banknotes are inserted, and -
In other words, when returning two banknotes, rollers R1 to R3 are prohibited from rotating, and when rollers R8 and R9 are rotated, rollers R4 to R7 are free, so the two banknotes and three banknotes are returned.
It is possible to reliably separate the sheets into sheets, and there is no risk of an excess or deficiency in the number of returned sheets.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the main part of the electric circuit of the above-mentioned device. In the figure, 20 is a group of push button switches for article selection, and 21 is a group of push button switches for article selection, which are repeatedly scanned and pressed in sequence. 22 is a known charge memory that individually stores the sales amount of the article corresponding to the article selection push button switch.

When the charge memory 22 receives a signal from the scanning circuit 21, it outputs the sales amount of the article corresponding to the depressed push button switch to the arithmetic circuit 23. The arithmetic circuit 23 compares and calculates the input amount inputted from the validator 1 (the total amount of banknotes inserted by the customer) and the sales amount inputted from the fee memory 22, and if the sales conditions are met, the A sales command signal indicating this is supplied to the article delivery machine 24 and the control circuit 25.

Further, when the input amount is larger than the sales amount, the arithmetic circuit 23 supplies the control circuit 25 with a portion of the change to be released that is divisible by the amount of one inserted banknote,
The remaining amount, that is, the change amount smaller than the amount of one inserted bill is supplied to the change discharging mechanism 26. The article dispensing machine 24 is a known device that sends out the article selected by the customer to an article receiving slot provided on the customer service panel, and when the vending machine is a ticket vending machine, it is a ticket issuing machine such as a printing mechanism. Contains.

The change discharging mechanism 26 is a known device that includes a memory 27 that stores the change amount input from the arithmetic circuit 23 and a dispensing machine 28 that discharges change coins stored in a change safe. Every time you release change,
The amount is stored in the memory 27, the change amount is subtracted, and change coins are released until the change amount becomes zero.

29, 30, and 31 are trailing edge detection circuits that detect the trailing edge of a bill using the output signals of the bill detection circuits 7, 8, and 16, and supply detection signals to the control circuit 25. To detect the trailing edge of a banknote in each detection circuit, the output signal of the corresponding banknote detector is
The rising edge (or falling edge) of the input signal may be detected by differentiating it with a differentiating circuit or the like. The control circuit 25 is a control circuit for the rollers R1 to R9, the rotor 6, the banknote transport mechanisms 13 and 14, and the deflection mechanism 15, and controls the rollers R1 to RO for a certain period of time every time a detection signal is input from the trailing edge detection circuit 29. While rotating, the rotor 6 is then rotated by 1/2 rotation.

Further, when a sales command signal and a change amount are input from the arithmetic circuit 23, this control circuit drives the rollers R1 to R9 until a detection signal is input from the trailing edge detection circuit 30, and then the deflection mechanism 15 and the bill conveyance mechanism 14. Along with driving the
Depending on the amount of change, one of the rollers R1 to R is driven and brake is applied to one of them, and when a detection signal is input from the trailing edge detection circuit 31, the deflection mechanism 15 is returned to its original position, and the rollers R1 to R9 and The banknote transport mechanism 13 is driven. The banknote conveyance mechanism 14 is driven until the banknote is conveyed to the return slot or confirmation window. In this device, if a customer first inserts five 1000P] bills,
Each time a banknote is inserted, the validator 1 and the control circuit 25 operate to count the amount of money inserted and shift the inserted banknote by a fixed amount along the conveyance direction, as shown in FIG. 4A. Arrange them so that they are stacked one on top of the other.

Next, when the customer presses down the push button switch corresponding to the 260Cf3 item, the arithmetic circuit 23 operates and outputs a sales command signal to the item delivery machine 24 and the control circuit 25, and at the same time, out of the change amount (2400 yen), A signal indicating 2,000 yen (for example, the number of coins) is output to the control circuit 25, and a signal indicating 400 yen is output to the change discharging mechanism 26. Therefore, the control circuit 25 controls the rollers R1 to R9, the rotor 6, the banknote transport mechanisms 13 and 14, and the deflection mechanism 15 as described above, so that two of the inserted 1,000 yen banknotes are used as part of the change. The three tickets were returned to the customer and collected in the safe. Further, the remaining change amount (400 yen) is released from the change release mechanism 26. Although the above-mentioned embodiment relates to a vending machine that can only use banknotes, the present invention can also be applied to a vending machine that can use both banknotes and coins. In this case, the number of coins inserted may exceed the amount of one bill, so if the number of coins inserted exceeds the number of bills inserted, the calculation circuit is configured to replenish the excess amount with coins. Then, it is suitable. In the above embodiment, a part of the inserted banknote is returned as part of the change, but the banknote for change is prepared in the vending machine, and the prepared banknote is added to the inserted banknote. Alternatively, it may be returned as part of the change. That is, a ticket vending machine is equipped with a bill safe that stores a large number of bills for change and a bill dispensing machine that dispenses the bills stored in the bill safe one by one. If the amount is more than the amount of one bill stored in the banknote safe, the control circuit 25 operates the banknote feeder instead of controlling the rollers R1 to R9 to remove the banknotes stored in the banknote safe. A predetermined number of coins may be released as part of the change. In this case, the inserted banknotes may be collected as they are in the safe, and change coins may be released for fractions of the total amount of change that are less than the amount of one banknote stored in the banknote safe. As described above, the present invention stores the inserted banknotes in a stacked state shifted by a certain amount, and when the change amount is greater than the amount of one banknote, the inserted banknote is added to the change amount. Since the change coins are returned in bulk, the amount of change coins released is reduced, which increases the utilization efficiency of the device and reduces the occurrence of troubles such as jams of change coins. In addition, the storage mechanism for deposited banknotes is composed of multiple sets of rollers spaced apart by a certain distance, and the banknotes are stacked and aligned at the same distance as the roller spacing, so the number of banknotes that can be inserted is There is no need to increase the size of the storage mechanism by increasing the size of the storage mechanism, and it is possible to reliably separate banknotes to be returned from banknotes to be collected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

A schematic diagram showing an example of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the rotor,
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which banknotes are stacked, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the essential parts of the electric circuit. 1...Discrimination machine, 5...Storage mechanism, 6.
... Rotor, 13 ... Banknote transport mechanism for collection, 14 ... Banknote transport mechanism for return, 15.
...Deflection mechanism, 22...Charge memory, 23.
... Arithmetic circuit, 25 ... Control circuit, 26.
...Change release mechanism, 7,8,16...Banknote detector, R1-R9 and R/-R9''...Roller, P1
~P5...Banknotes.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Using a plurality of pairs of rollers spaced apart from each other by a certain distance, the banknotes fed from the banknote validator 1 are stacked one on top of the other by shifting the banknotes by the same distance as the distance between the rollers in the banknote transport direction. A storage mechanism 5 that aligns and temporarily stores banknotes, a collection conveyance mechanism 13 that transports banknotes sent from the storage mechanism 5 to a safe, and a collection mechanism 13 that transports banknotes sent from the storage mechanism 5 to a return slot on a customer service panel. A transport mechanism 14 for returning and transporting banknotes, and a transport mechanism 13 for collecting banknotes sent out from the storage mechanism 15.
and a deflection mechanism 15 for deflecting the coins to the return conveyance mechanism 14; a change discharger 26 for discharging the coins in the change safe; and a change dispensing machine 26 for discharging coins from the change safe, and calculating change from the amount inserted by the customer and the amount of the item selected by the customer. , for the amount of change that can be returned with the inserted banknotes among the change to be released, the rollers of the storage mechanism 5 that correspond to the number of banknotes corresponding to the amount of change among the stored banknotes are Drive,
A vending machine comprising: arithmetic and control means for returning the banknotes and driving a change ejection machine to eject change coins for the remaining change amount.