JPH0228196B2 - KOKASENBETSUSOCHI - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a coin sorting device used in public telephones, various vending machines, and the like.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-51396, this type of coin sorting device has been equipped with an oscillating coil that forms an oscillating magnetic field at a low frequency such that magnetic flux passes through the coins for material sorting. Furthermore, oscillation coils that form a high-frequency oscillating magnetic field that does not allow magnetic flux to penetrate inside the coins are installed along the coin rolling path to sort the coins in terms of outer diameter and thickness, depending on the type of coin to be sorted. A configuration in which these elements are arranged sequentially is known.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, such a configuration requires various coils each having different dimensions, making the configuration complicated. In addition, in order to sequentially arrange the various coils along the coin rolling direction, it is especially difficult to sort out multiple types of coins. When doing so, there were problems in that the equipment would become larger and the cost would also rise.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and as shown in FIGS. 8 and 2, the present invention has a structure in which a coin is separated by a predetermined distance in the coin rolling direction on the coin contacting surface side of the inclined coin passage. two oscillation coils 3A and 3B of the same shape connected in series to the same oscillation circuit that forms an oscillation magnetic field with a frequency such that the generated magnetic flux passes through the coin, and the coin non-contact surface side of the coin passage. One receiving coil 5 having the same shape as the oscillating coil is placed in a position facing one of the oscillating coils, and the maximum impedance change of each of these oscillating coils 3A, 3B and receiving coil 5 as a coin passes through. A first detection means 9a detects a value related to the value, and detects a value related to the amount of change in impedance when the amount of change in impedance of these oscillation coils 3A, 3B becomes the minimum as the coin passes. It is composed of a second detecting means 9b and a determining means 9c which compares the detection results of these two detecting means with genuine coin data stored in advance in the memory 10 to determine the authenticity and type of the coin. be.

[Effect]

Oscillation coils 3A and 3B generated by passage of coins
When the value related to the maximum value of each impedance change of the receiving coil 5 is detected by the first detection means 9a, and the amount of impedance change of the oscillating coils 3A and 3B caused by passage of the coin becomes the minimum. The value related to the amount of change in impedance is the second
Each detection result is compared with the genuine coin data stored in the memory 10 by the determining means 9c to determine whether the passing coin is genuine or false.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail using Examples.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a coin passage. Further, FIG. 3 is a front view showing how a coin 1 with a small outer diameter and thickness passes through the coin passage, FIG. 4 is an output waveform diagram when the coin 1 passes through, and FIGS. FIG. 6 is a front view showing how a coin 2 having a large outer diameter and thickness passes, and an output waveform diagram at that time. Note that FIGS. 2 to 6 show the corresponding positional relationships along the coin rolling direction.

In the figure, oscillation coils 3A and 3B have exactly the same configuration, and are arranged at a predetermined distance from each other on the coin contacting surface 4A side of the inclined coin passage 4, as shown in FIG. A receiving coil 5 having the same configuration as one of the oscillating coils 3A is arranged on the coin non-contact surface 4B side of the coin passage 4. Both oscillation coils 3A,
3B are mutually connected in series to an oscillation circuit 6, and each generates an oscillating magnetic field, but the frequency is set to be low enough to allow the generated magnetic flux to pass through the coins 1 and 2. Therefore, this oscillation circuit 6
By rectifying the output by the rectifier circuit 9, an output voltage _V1 having a waveform as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 6 can be obtained. That is, the impedance (inductance) of the oscillation coil changes depending on the path of the coin, but the amount of change differs depending on the material of the coin. Therefore, the output voltage at the time of the maximum change caused by the passing of the coin (when the amount of change is at its maximum peak value) with respect to the case where there is no coin (t ₁ , t ₁ ′)
By comparing the values V ₁₁ and V ₁₁ ′ of V ₁ with the range of genuine coins, it is possible to determine whether the material is correct or not. That is, the output voltage V ₁ is converted into digital data by an AD converter 8 and sent to a well-known processor unit (CPU) 9. On the other hand, the output range for specie coins is stored in advance in the memory 10 consisting of, for example, read-on memory (ROM), and the CPU 9
compares the detected data with the data read from the memory 10 to determine authenticity. Note that the width of the peak of the output voltage V ₁ is naturally larger in the case of a large-diameter coin, and T ₂ <T ₂ '.

Next, the outer diameter of the coin can be similarly determined from the change in the output voltage _V1 of the oscillation coil. That is, coin 1,
2, each oscillation coil 3
Although the impedances of A and 3B change over time, the value of output voltage V ₁ when the amount of change in impedance of both oscillation coils 3A and 3B matches,
In other words, the value of the output voltage V ₁ when the coin is located at the center of both oscillation coils (t ₈ , t ₈ ') becomes smaller as the outer diameter of the coin becomes larger, and becomes larger as the outer diameter becomes smaller.
This means that the influence of the presence of a coin on the impedance of both oscillation coils is maximum when the coin is located at the center of the oscillation coil, and becomes smaller as the coin moves away from the center. As mentioned above, even when it is located in the middle of both, it still has a considerable influence on both, and therefore the valley (maximum value) of the bimodal curve becomes shallow, whereas the outer diameter When is small, its influence is rapidly lost as it moves away from the center of the oscillation coil, and the valley of the bimodal curve becomes deeper. At this matching point that becomes a valley, the amount of change in impedance becomes the minimum peak value.

Therefore, the output voltage V ₁₂ at the above coincidence point,
By comparing the value of J ₁₂ ' with the range of genuine coins stored in advance in the memory 10 in the same manner as described above, it is possible to determine whether the value is correct or not.

The outer diameter D of coins that can be sorted by this method is approximately in the range of D ₁ <D≦D ₂ where D ₁ is the gap between both oscillating coils and D ₂ is the distance between the centers of both coils. . In other words, when the coin is located in the center of both oscillation coils, if the oscillation coils on both sides are at least slightly present, it will not be possible to achieve the same point of output as described above, and on the other hand, if the coin diameter is too large, the impedance change will be Peeta value (trough of both curves)
This is because it becomes difficult to detect.

Next, the thickness can be determined based on the output of the receiving coil 5. That is, by amplifying the output of the receiving coil 5 by the amplifier circuit 11 and rectifying it by the rectifier circuit 12, an output voltage _V2 having a waveform as shown in Fig. 4 or Fig. 6 can be obtained, but there are no coins. The amount of change in impedance caused by the passage of a coin is larger when the coin is thicker than when it is thinner. Therefore, the values V ₂₁ and V ₂₁ ' of the output voltage V ₂ at the time of maximum change (when the amount of change is the maximum peak value) are converted into digital data by the AD converter 8 in the same manner as described above, and stored in the memory 10. It is possible to determine whether the coin is correct or not by comparing it with a range of genuine coins stored in advance.

Next, the coin sorting operation according to the above configuration will be explained using the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the output voltage of both oscillation coils 3A and 3B
V ₁ and the output voltage V ₂ of the receiving coil 5 are AD converted (step 101), and the peak values (minimum values) V ₁₁ , V ₁₁ ′ of the output voltage V ₁ corresponding to the maximum peak value of the impedance change amount of the oscillation coil are obtained. , and the peak values (minimum values) V ₂₁ and V ₂₁ ' of the output voltage V ₂ corresponding to the maximum peak value of the amount of change in impedance of the receiving coil are detected (step 102). This step 101
In step 102, a first detection means is constructed.
When the peak value is detected, the detected peak value is compared with the setting data of the peak value of the output voltage _V1 of the oscillation coil stored in advance in the memory 10 (step 103).
If the detected peak value is within the setting range (step
104), and compares the peak value of the output voltage _V2 of the receiving coil with the set data (step 105). If it is within the set range (step 106), the output voltage V ₁ of the oscillation coil is further AD converted (step 107), and the peak value of the output voltage V ₁ ( maximum value)
V ₁₂ and V ₁₂ ' are detected (step 108). Step 107 and step 108 constitute a second detection means. When the peak value is detected, the value is compared with the set data (step 109), and if it is within the set range (step 110), a genuine coin signal S is output (step 111), and the sorting is completed.

When there are multiple types of coins to be sorted, by setting the output range corresponding to the material, outer diameter, and thickness of the specie coin for each denomination in the memory 10, for example, the output corresponding to the material can be set first. If it is determined that it is within the set range of the first denomination, then it is determined whether each output corresponding to the outer diameter and thickness is within the set range of the first denomination. , it is possible to determine the type and authenticity of coins.

The above-mentioned embodiments used a general-purpose CPU and a means of defining the determination procedure by a program.
Of course, the determination circuit may be constructed of a dedicated logic circuit, for example, as in the conventional example described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-51396 mentioned above. However, especially when there are many denominations to be sorted, the latter method inevitably complicates the configuration, and the former method is considered to be advantageous.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since the two oscillating coils and one receiving coil are formed in the same shape, each coil can be configured with the same coil, thereby reducing costs. Furthermore, since the two oscillation coils have the same frequency, only a single oscillation frequency is required, which simplifies the circuit configuration and reduces power consumption. In addition, even if the outer diameter of the coil is smaller than the outer diameter of the coin, the outer diameter of the coin can be sorted, so the space for the coil is smaller and the number of coils is smaller (only two coils are arranged in the coin rolling direction). At the same time, the length of the sorting device in the coin rolling direction is shortened, so that the time required for sorting is shortened and the device can be made more compact. Especially when sorting multiple types of coins,
In the past, a large number of coils were arranged, but in the present invention, this is not necessary and great effects can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a plan view showing the coin passage, Figure 3 is a front view showing how a small diameter coin passes through, Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the output waveform at that time, and Figure 5 is a diagram showing a large diameter coin passing through. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an output waveform at that time, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of control operation in the CPU, and FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram of the present invention. 1...Small diameter coin, 2...Large diameter coin, 3A, 3B
...Oscillating coil, 4...Coin passage, 4A...Coin contact surface, 4B...Coin non-contact surface, 5...Receiving coil, 6...
Oscillation circuit, 7, 12... Rectifier circuit, 8... AD converter, 9... CPU, 10... Memory, 11... Amplification circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The same oscillation circuit is arranged at a predetermined distance in the coin rolling direction on the coin contact surface side of the inclined coin passage and forms an oscillating magnetic field with a frequency such that the generated magnetic flux passes through the coin. 2 of the same shape connected in series
one oscillating coil, one receiving coil having the same shape as the oscillating coil, which is disposed on the coin non-contact surface side of the coin passage in a position opposite to one of the oscillating coils, and these oscillating coils and the receiving coil as the coin passes. a first detection means for detecting a value related to the maximum value of each impedance change of the coils; and a value related to the amount of impedance change when the amount of impedance change of these oscillating coils due to passage of a coin becomes the minimum. a second detection means for detecting the coin; and a determination means for comparing the detection results of these two detection means with genuine coin data stored in advance in a memory to determine the authenticity and type of the coin. Characteristic coin sorting device.