JPS6336556B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a coin dispensing device for dispensing coins, tokens, etc. one by one from a storage hopper.

(Prior Art) As a conventional coin dispensing device of this kind, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 50-63997, coins or tokens (hereinafter collectively referred to as coins) are inserted and stored in bulk. The hopper is equipped with an inclined rotary disk whose surface is rotated at a large angle of inclination of about 70 degrees with respect to the horizontal. A device configured to pick up one coin upward from the lower part of the hopper and send it to the upper delivery port using a sending claw protruding from the surface of the plate at a height substantially equal to the thickness of one coin. However, it is suitably used especially for the purpose of processing large quantities of large coins such as one dollar coins.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, as described above, as the inclined rotary disk rotates at a position greatly inclined with respect to the horizontal, the feeder protruding from the surface of the rotary disk. Since the claws are used to pick up coins upwards from the lower part of the hopper and send them out, there is a problem with the coin picking performance, especially when there are only a few coins remaining in the hopper. However, there is a problem with the coin delivery operation in that some coins end up remaining in the hopper.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems with the coin feeding operation using the tilted rotary disk, a cylinder rotated around a horizontal axis is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 141864/1986 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 34599/1989. It has been proposed to provide coin receptacles spaced apart in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface of the shaped drum.

However, various problems can be considered with these conventional techniques. For example, the former technique
In the device described in Publication No. 141864, in order to reliably receive coins falling from above, it is necessary to provide a long coin ejection passage or plate with an almost horizontal slope, and a certain amount of coins must be placed in a cylindrical shape. There is a problem that the device becomes large in order to secure the lower space for holding the coins in the shaped drum, and the inclination of the coin ejecting plate is increased to allow the coins to slide onto the coin ejecting plate under their own weight. Since the coins cannot be taken out of the cylindrical drum, there is a problem in that it is necessary to provide special means for quickly taking out the coins received on the coin delivery plate out of the cylindrical drum.

Furthermore, in the latter method described in JP-A-48-34599, the rotational speed of the rotating drum member is limited and the number of coins that can fit into the rotating drum is limited in order to ensure reliable operation. Therefore, there is a problem that the coin sending processing capacity is low and the sending efficiency is poor.

An object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of feeding pawls spaced apart in the circumferential direction on the inner circumferential surface of the feeding ring, thereby allowing the coins to be sent out per revolution without increasing the diameter of the rotating member for sending out coins. By increasing the number of deliveries and by providing an outlet opening extending along the inner circumferential surface of the delivery ring in the upright support plate adjacent to one side of the delivery ring, the inside of the delivery ring can be maintained even when the delivery ring is rotated at high speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a coin dispensing device that is compact and has excellent dispensing efficiency by making it possible to reliably dispense coins from the circumferential surface through the exit opening.

(Means for Solving the Problems) According to the present invention, as shown in the drawings, an upright support plate 3 constitutes a hopper 8 with a hopper head 5 attached to one side and capable of storing a large number of coins in a loose state. and an annular delivery ring 11 which is rotatably supported on the one side of the upright support plate and has a plurality of delivery claws 14 protruding from its inner peripheral surface at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction; This sending ring 11 is connected to the hopper 8.
a drive device 17 that rotates the delivery ring 11;
The inner peripheral surface 4 of the delivery ring 11 at a position above the center of
2, and a delivery chute 43 for receiving coins delivered from the delivery opening 41, and sent to an upper position by the delivery pawl 14. It is characterized in that the coin supporting surface of the feed pawl 14 is inclined towards the upright support plate 3 so that the coin is delivered through the delivery opening 41.

Further, according to the present invention, the coin supporting surface 15 of the feeding claw 14 described above includes a first surface portion 15a having a relatively gentle slope that supports coins between the bottom of the hopper and the coin feeding opening position; A second surface portion 15b having a relatively steep slope and located closer to the support plate than the first surface portion is provided, and the inclination angle of the first surface portion 15a is adjusted so that the coin pushing force f ₁ due to the driving force F of the feed pawl 14 The angle is set to be greater than the coin pressing force f ₂ against the surface of the support plate 3, and the second
It is preferable that the inclination angle of the surface portion 15b is such that the coin pushing force f ₁ ' caused by the driving force F is reduced and the coin pressing force f ₂ ' is increased.

(Function) According to the device of the present invention configured as described above, when the delivery ring 11 rotates in the hopper 8 in which a large number of coins are accommodated in a loose state, the delivery ring 11 from which the coin feeding claw 14 is protruded. The inner circumferential surface 42 of the hopper 8 passes through the bottom of the hopper 8 in a substantially horizontal position, so that the coin in the hopper 8 easily enters onto the inner circumferential surface 42 of the delivery ring 11, and the coin is directed toward the support plate 3. The coin is supported by the coin supporting surface of the coin feeding claw 14 having inclined coin supporting surfaces 15a and 15b and is pressed against the support plate 3, whereby the coin is securely held by the feeding claw 14 and sent upward. and is reliably pushed into the delivery opening 41 opened in the support plate 3 at the upper position.

Further, according to the present invention, by providing the coin supporting surface with the first surface portion 15a having a gentle slope and the second surface portion 15b having a steep slope, the first surface portion 15a can give the coin a large push up. When the coin moves from the first surface portion 15a to the second surface portion 15b by applying a relatively small pressing force to the support plate surface and entering the coin into the delivery opening at the delivery opening position, this A large pushing force is generated towards the support plate 3 by the second surface portion 15b, thereby making it possible to quickly feed the coin into the delivery opening 41.

(Example) The drawings depict preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawing, 1 indicates a bottom plate portion 1a and both side wall portions 1.
b, and is fixed at a predetermined mounting position with screws, etc., and an upright support plate 3 is fixed to a mounting flange 2 provided at the front end of both side wall portions 1b of this support base 1 with screws 4, etc. Fixed by

A hopper head 5 is attached to one side, that is, the front side, of the upright support plate 3 by known attachment means such as spring-loaded screws 6, forming a hopper 8 capable of storing a large number of coins in a loose state. A support roller or support wheel 10 is mounted on axle pins 9 fixedly protruding from the front side of the upright support plate 3 at three points spaced apart corresponding to, for example, three vertices of an equilateral triangle.
are rotatably mounted, respectively, and an annular delivery ring 11 is rotatably supported within the hopper by these support wheels 10 on one side of the upright support plate.

The delivery ring 11 has a liner 12 made of a relatively soft material such as copper, aluminum, or synthetic resin attached to its inner peripheral wall using a tapered end holding piece 13 and screws. Coin feed pawls 14 are mounted and fixed with screws or the like or are formed integrally with the liner and protrude at positions spaced apart at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction, and the protrusion height of each coin feed pawl 14 is appropriately selected. Coin support surface 15 with a width that can support only one coin to be processed.
is defined by one side of each feed pawl 14, and the coin supporting surface 15 has at least two different inclination angles α ₁ and α ₂ for operational reasons described later with reference to FIG. Support surface portions 15a and 15b are provided that are inclined downward toward the support plate 3 side (sixth
(see figure).

A rail 16 extending in the circumferential direction is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the delivery ring 11, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, three supports are rotatably supported on shaft pins 9 projecting from the support plate 3. The cooperation between the ring 10 and the rail 16 allows the delivery ring 11 to be moved to a predetermined position adjacent to one side of the upright support plate 3 without bringing the edge surface of the delivery ring 11 into surface or sliding contact with the support plate 3. It is rotatably supported in the hopper 8.

A ring gear 18 is mounted on one side of the rail 16 on the outer peripheral surface of the delivery ring 11 as a drive device 17 for rotating the delivery ring 11 into the hopper 8 by engaging the delivery ring 11 on its outer peripheral surface. A pinion 19 that is connected or integrally molded and meshed with the ring gear 18 is fixed on the output shaft 21 of a reduction gear 20 fixed to the other side of the upright support plate 3, and is connected to the drive motor 22 via the reduction gear 20.
The delivery ring 11 is configured to be rotationally driven by this.

The stirring device 25 for improving the picking up of coins in the hopper 8 by the above-mentioned sending ring 11 has a plurality of radial arms made of synthetic rubber fixed on a disk 26 by a presser plate 27 and screws 28. A plate-shaped stirring member 29 is provided, and the disc 26 is connected to the delivery ring 1.
Upright support plate 3 at a position corresponding to the inner lower half of 1
The plate-shaped stirring member 29 is made to protrude from the front side of the support plate 3 by being positioned in the circular hole 30 formed in the support plate 3 . In order to drive the disk 26 in rotation, a bearing support frame 33 is attached to the rear side of the upright support plate 3 with a spacer 31 and a screw 32, as shown in FIG.
are fixed at a distance in parallel from the rear side of the support plate 3,
A shaft 34 is fixed to the support frame 3 , and a large-diameter driven timing belt pulley 36 is rotatably supported on the shaft 34 via a bearing 35 . The timing belt pulley 37 is configured to be driven from the side timing belt pulley 37 via the timing belt 38, and the disc 26 is connected to the timing belt pulley 36.
are fixed with screws 39.

Reference numeral 41 denotes a coin delivery opening provided through the upright support plate 3, and the coin delivery opening 41 has a height corresponding to approximately the center of the delivery ring 11, and more precisely, the delivery ring 11 can be opened to this height.
A delivery chute 43 is formed of an arcuate hole extending an appropriate length along the inner circumferential surface 42 of the coin delivery chute 43 for guiding and delivering coins discharged from the coin delivery opening 41 to a predetermined coin delivery port. is fixed to the rear side of the upright support plate 3 with screws, etc., and the delivery chute 4
3 is equipped with a micro switch 44 or the like for counting the coins ejected therethrough in a known manner. Coin guide surface 45 of sending chute 43
A coin support surface switching ramp 46 is provided at the front end of the coin support surface 15, which slopes upward and _outward as shown in FIG. It's good. Next, the operation of the apparatus configured as described above will be explained.

By starting the drive motor 22 while the coins are stored in the hopper 8 in loose form,
The delivery ring 11 and the agitating device 25 rotate in opposite directions, thereby stirring the coins in the hopper and moving the coins closely attached to the inner peripheral surface of the delivery ring 11 to the coin sending claw 14 and the fixed upright support plate 3. The coins are picked up by the surface of the support plate 3 and sent to the coin delivery opening 41 located above while applying a pushing force to the surface of the support plate 3 by the feeding claws 14. At this time, as shown in FIG.
1, the coin A is located on the first surface portion 15a of the support surface 15 of the feed pawl 14,
Since this first surface portion 15a is inclined at an angle of α ₁ =30°, for example, the upward force f ₁ acting on the coin due to the driving force F is the pressing force f ₂ against the surface of the support plate 3. However, when the coin A reaches the coin dispensing opening 41 as shown by the dashed line, the coin enters the coin dispensing opening 41 of the support plate 3 and comes into contact with the ramp 46, which causes the coin to pass through the second surface portion. 15b, thereby reducing the upward force f ₁ ' exerted on the coin by the driving force F, and the upright support plate 3
The pushing force f ₂ ′ toward
It rolls down and is sent out by actuating the actuating arm 47 of the counting micro switch 44.

In the illustrated example described above, the upright support plate 3 is supported vertically by the support base 1, but it can also be tilted at an appropriate angle from the vertical as required.
In this specification, the term "upright" includes such a tilted state.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the illustrated example, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, a device capable of accommodating a large number of coins and reliably delivering the coins with high delivery efficiency can be made to have a relatively simple structure and be miniaturized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a coin dispensing device according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the coin dispensing device shown in FIG. 1 with the hopper head removed, FIG. 3 is a side view of the coin dispensing device shown in FIG. Plan view of the coin dispensing device shown in FIG.
The figure is an exploded perspective view of the coin dispensing device shown in the first figure,
The figure is an explanatory view showing a state in which coins are fed out from the coin feeding opening. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Support base, 3... Upright support plate, 5... Hopper head, 8... Hopper, 9... Shaft pin, 10... Support wheel, 11... Delivery ring, 12... Liner, 14
...Feeding claw, 16...Rail, 17...Drive device, 18
... Ring gear, 19 ... Pinion, 20 ... Reduction device, 21 ... Output shaft, 22 ... Drive motor, 25 ... Stirring device, 29 ... Stirring member, 36 ... Drive side timing belt pulley, 37 ... Drive side timing belt pulley, 38 ... Timing belt, 42... Inner peripheral surface of delivery ring, 43... Delivery chute, 44... Micro switch for counting.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A hopper formed by an upright support plate and a hopper head attached to the upright support plate for storing a large number of coins in a loose state, and a horizontal axis within the hopper adjacent to the upright support plate on one side. A delivery ring is provided to be rotated around the delivery ring, and a plurality of delivery claws are protruded from the inner peripheral surface of the delivery ring at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. A coin dispensing device, characterized in that the dispensing opening is inclined downwardly toward the upright support plate and extends along the inner circumferential surface of the dispensing ring at a position above the upright support plate. 2. A first surface portion having a relatively gentle slope that supports coins between the bottom of the hopper and the coin delivery opening position on the coin supporting surface of the feeding claw, and a first surface portion located closer to the support plate than the first surface portion. A second surface portion having a relatively steep slope is provided, and the inclination angle of the first surface portion is changed so that the coin pushing force f ₁ due to the driving force F of the feed claw is the coin pressing force f ₂ against the surface of the support plate.
A patent characterized in that the angle of inclination of the second surface portion is set to such an angle that the coin pushing force f ₁ ′ caused by the driving force F is reduced and the coin pushing force f ₂ ′ is increased. Apparatus according to claim 1.