A coins receiving and dispensing apparatus suitable for food shops or restaurants allows precise transfer and reception of various coins without error and confirmation of the balance of the coin. When coins received from customers are inserted into this apparatus, the coins are immediately sorted by a sorting mechanism with respect to the denominations of the currency and stored at the respective storage portions. When the coins are paid out as change, the coin feeder operates based on a dispensing command signal produced corresponding to the differences between the sold amount inputted in the register and the received amount from the customers to feed the coins of the wanted denomination in the necessary number.
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15. A coin receiving and dispensing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of storage portions for storing respective coins; sorting means for sorting coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus with respect to denominations of the currency of the coins and respectively feeding the sorted coins to said corresponding storage portions; feeding means for feeding coins out of said storage portions to a user in response to a dispensing command; and said sorting means comprising a gauge having a coin guide portion extending over said storage portions, said coin guide portion being formed with a plurality of openings respectively having sizes slightly larger than the diameter of a corresponding coin of a particular denomination among the various coins of different denominations, so that each opening is sized to accept a coin of a different denomination, at positions corresponding to said respective storage portions, and comprising conveying means for conveying the coins that are disposed on said gauge along the coin guide portion, further comprising carrying means for conveying the coins, fed out of said storage portions by said feeding means, toward an outlet, wherein said carrying means includes a belt extending among coin fed positions, to which said feeding means feeds the coins to said outlet, and being capable of supporting and carrying the coins, and belt drive means for driving said belt.
1. A coin receiving and dispensing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of storage portions for storing respective coins; sorting means for sorting coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus with respect to denominations of the currency of the coins and respectively feeding the sorted coins to said corresponding storage portions; feeding means for feeding coins out of said storage portions to a user in response to a dispensing command; and said sorting means comprising a gauge having a coin guide portion extending over said storage portions, said coin guide portion being formed with a plurality of openings respectively having sizes slightly larger than the diameter of a corresponding coin of a particular denomination among the various coins of different denominations, so that each opening is sized to accept a coin of a different denomination, at positions corresponding to said respective storage portions, and comprising conveying means for conveying the coins that are disposed on said gauge along the coin guide portion, wherein said coin guide portion is substantially ring-shaped with an upper side and a bottom side and is formed with a receiving face, for receiving a major face of the coins, formed with said openings, which are arranged along a circumferential direction, and tapered so that the diameter of said coin guide portion decreases gradually toward the bottom side, for receiving the major face of the coins, and an edge receiving portion in continuation with a lower end of the receiving face for receiving the edge of the coins.
0. 18. A coin receiving and dispensing apparatus having a common delivery means for delivering coins to an outlet comprising:
a case having a base plate; a plurality of storage portions for storing respective coins; sorting means for sorting coins inserted in the apparatus and respectively feeding the sorted coins to said corresponding storage portions; said sorting means comprising a gauge having a coin guide portion extending over said storage portions, said coin guide portion being formed with a plurality of openings of increasing size so as to sort the coins according to the diameters thereof, each opening corresponding to a respective storage portion, wherein said coin guide portion is substantially ring-shaped with an upper side and a bottom side and is formed with a receiving face, for receiving a major face of the coins, formed with said openings, which are arranged along a circumferential direction, and tapered so that the diameter of said coin guide portion decreases gradually toward the bottom side, for receiving the major face of the coins, and an edge receiving portion in continuation with a lower end of the receiving face for receiving the edge of the coins; feeding means for feeding coins out of said storage portions to a user in response to a dispensing command; conveying means for conveying coins along the coin guide portion; and wherein said storage portions are adapted to store respective coins in a loose condition, and are disposed in a substantially planar arrangement around said common delivery means fixedly positioned with respect to said base plate for delivering thus-fed coins to an outlet.
11. A coin receiving and dispensing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of storage portions for storing respective coins; sorting means for sorting coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus with respect to denominations of the currency of the coins and respectively feeding the sorted coins to said corresponding storage portions; feeding means for feeding coins out of said storage portions to a user in response to a dispensing command; said sorting means comprising a gauge having a coin guide portion extending over said storage portions, said coin guide portion being formed with a plurality of openings respectively having sizes slightly larger than the diameter of a corresponding coin of a particular denomination among the various coins of different denominations, so that each opening is sized to accept a coin of a different denomination, at positions corresponding to said respective storage portions, and comprising conveying means for conveying the coins that are disposed on said gauge along the coin guide portion, wherein said coin guide portion is substantially ring,shaped with an upper side and a bottom side and is formed with a receiving face, for receiving a major face of the coins, formed with said openings, which are arranged along a circumferential direction, and tapered so that the diameter of said coin guide portion decreases gradually toward the bottom side, for receiving the major face of the coins, and an edge receiving portion in continuation with a lower end of the receiving face for receiving the edge of the coins; and coin dispensing means for receiving coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus and sequentially dispensing the coins onto said gauge.
16. A coin receiving and dispensing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of storage portions for storing respective coins; sorting means for sorting coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus with respect to denominations of the currency of the coins and respectively feeding the sorted coins to said corresponding storage portions; feeding means for feeding coins out of said storage portions to a user in response to a dispensing command; and said sorting means comprising a gauge having a coin guide portion extending over said storage portions, said coin guide portion being formed with a plurality of openings respectively having sizes slightly larger than the diameter of a corresponding coin of a particular denomination among the various coins of different denominations, so that each opening is sized to accept a coin of a different denomination, at positions corresponding to said respective storage portions, and comprising conveying means for conveying the coins that are disposed on said gauge along the coin guide portion, wherein said feeding means includes: a base plate for slidably supporting the coins; a rotation plate disposed so as to face said base plate, rotatably attached to the base plate, and formed with guide holes for guiding the coins onto the base plate; a wall member surrounding said rotation plate, formed with an outlet through which the coins can pass; a pushing member arranged between said base plate and said rotation plate so as to be movable between a pushing position at which the coins are pushed toward said outlet and an isolation position isolated from the pushing position; and pushing member moving means for moving said pushing member to said pushing position and said isolation position based on the rotation of said rotation plate.
0. 19. A coin receiving and dispensing apparatus comprising:
a case having a base plate; a plurality of storage mechanisms for storing and dispensing respective coins, each storage mechanism comprising a storage hopper that is adapted to store respective coins in a loose condition and a coin dispensing mechanism that is disposed below said storage hopper and is operative to feed the loose coins from the corresponding storage hopper to a respective output in response to a dispensing command; sorting means for sorting coins inserted in the apparatus and respectively feeding the sorted coins to said corresponding storage mechanisms, said sorting means comprising a gauge having a coin guide portion extending over said storage mechanisms, said coin guide portion being formed with a plurality of openings of increasing size so as to sort the coins according to the diameters thereof, each opening corresponding to a respective storage mechanism, wherein said coin guide portion is substantially ring-shaped with an upper side and a bottom side and is formed with a receiving face, for receiving a major face of the coins, formed with said openings, which are arranged along a circumferential direction, and tapered so that the diameter of said coin guide portion decreases gradually toward the bottom side, for receiving the major face of the coins, and an edge receiving portion in continuation with a lower end of the receiving face of receiving the edge of the coins; conveying means for conveying coins along said coin guide portion; and delivering means fixedly disposed with respect to said base plate to receive the coins output by said dispensing mechanisms for delivery thus-fed coins to an outlet; wherein said storage mechanisms are disposed in a substantially planar arrangement around said delivery means.
17. A coin receiving and dispensing apparatus comprising:
a plurality of storage portions for storing respective coins; sorting means for sorting coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus with respect to denominations of the currency of the coins and respectively feeding the sorted coins to said corresponding storage portions; feeding means for feeding coins out of said storage portions to a user in response to a dispensing command; said sorting means comprising a gauge having a coin guide portion extending over said storage portions, said coin guide portion being formed with a plurality of openings respectively having sizes slightly larger than the diameter of a corresponding coin of a particular denomination among the various coins of different denominations, so that each opening is sized to accept a coin of a different denomination, at positions corresponding to said respective storage portions, and comprising conveying means for conveying the coins that are disposed on said gauge along the coin guide portion; and coin dispensing means for receiving coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus and sequentially dispensing the coins onto said gauge, wherein said coin dispensing means includes: a base plate for slidably supporting the coins; a rotation plate disposed so as to face said base plate, rotatably attached to the base plate, and formed with guide holes for guiding the coins onto the base plate; a wall member surrounding said rotation plate, formed with an outlet through which the coins can pass; a pushing member arranged between said base plate and said rotation plate so as to be movable between a pushing position at which the coins are pushed toward said outlet and an isolation position isolated from the pushing position; and pushing member moving means for moving said pushing member to said pushing position and said isolation position based on the rotation of said rotation plate.
2. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
3. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
4. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
5. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
6. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
7. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
8. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
9. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
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13. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
14. The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus as set forth in
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coin receiving and dispensing apparatus suitably installed at food shops or fast-food restaurants.
2. Description of Related Art
In shops, cashiers these days operate their registers to record the prices of goods that the customers are purchasing, further putting them in the registers according to the denominations of the currency after counting and sorting the paid currency, as well as taking out respective necessary bills and coins to transfer as change.
However, such bothersome monetary reception from and transfer to many customers consumes a relatively large amount of time in association with recording task of sold amounts of money on the register through key typing inputs or bar code inputs, thereby raising problems in that it creates long lines waiting for cashiers when busy. In particular, the problems are inevitable when a person unfamiliar with operating the register is the cashier, thereby resulting in the transfer of improper change to the customer.
In many situations, the currency received from the customers and placed into the registers is used as change. It is therefore difficult to determine the balance in the respective registers during their operation, so that calculation of the proceeds and collection of the money takes a long time when the register is closed or during the cashier's break.
It is an object of the invention to provide a coin receiving and dispensing apparatus enabling an operator to quickly, unmistakably perform the transfer of currency with customers and to confirm its balance immediately.
The foregoing object is accomplished with a coin receiving and dispensing apparatus including: a plurality of storage portions for storing of respective coins; sorting means for sorting coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus with respect to denominations of the currency of the coin and respectively feeding the sorted coins to said corresponding storage portions; feeding means for feeding wanted coins out of said storage portions in response to a dispensing command; and said sorting means comprising a gauge having a coin guide portion extending over said storage portions, said coin guide portion being formed with a plurality of openings respectively having inner diameters slightly larger than the diameter of a corresponding one of the coins among the various coins at positions corresponding to said respective storage portions, and comprising conveying means for conveying the coins that have reached on said gauge along the coin guide portion.
In accordance with the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus thus constituted, coins inserted through a coin entry opening are sorted by the sorting means with respect to the denominations of the currency and stored at the respective storage portions. When the coins are paid out, the feeding means operates based on a delivery signal sent from the register or the like to feed the coins of the wanted denominations in the necessary number.
The above and other objects and features of the invention are apparent to those skilled in the art from the following preferred embodiments thereof when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to the drawings in detail, in particular, to
A coin entry opening 3a for inserting coins into this apparatus is formed in the top plate 2a on a right upper side of the front panel 3; a disc-shaped coin receiving plate 4 is attached on the top plate 2a so as to surround the coin entry opening 3a. A delivery slot 3b for dispensing coins to be dispensed from the apparatus is formed at a lower portion of the front panel 3; a payout tray 6 formed with a recess 6a is arranged at the delivery slot 3b; coins, when discharged, remain at the recess 6a. The coins that have reached the recess 6a will be picked up by an operator, for example, a cashier, and be given as change to customers.
An inside mechanism surrounded by the casing 2 and a front panel 3 is described as follows. As apparent from
As shown in
As shown in
The transfer unit 22 for feeding the 10 yen coins stored in the hopper 21 is constituted as follows. As shown in
Guide grooves 26d, 27d are formed at the bottom of both leg members 26, 27 across the entire length of the leg members 26, 27. As described above, the coin feeder 16, as the well as other coin feeders 11 to 15, is detachably attached to the bottom plate 2b of the casing 2, and the guide grooves 26d, 27d are formed for detachably attaching the feeder 16. That is, a pair of guide rails (not shown) slidably fitted to the guide grooves 26d, 27d is provided on the bottom plate 2b. Inserting horizontally the coin feeder 16 as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
To convey the 10 yen coins that have fallen in the guide holes 32a of the rotation plate 32 and have reach the top of the base plate 25, along the surface of the base plate 25 and to feed them through the outlet 40a formed at the wall member 40, the following constitution has been built. As shown in
As shown in
Each pushing pin 43 can move between the pushing position and an isolation position at which the pushing pin 43 is isolated from the pushing position, according to the rotation of the rotation plate 32. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The coin feeder 16, though substantially the same as the other five coin feeders 11 to 15, is formed, as shown in
As apparent from
In operation of the coin feeder 16 thus constituted, which operates in a manner substantially the same as the other five coin feeder 11 to 15, it is now assumed that the hopper 21 mounted on the coin feeder 16 is storing many 10 yen coins. In this situation, a controller, or a CPU as described below, managing the operation control of the coin feeder 16, provides an operation command in response to a payout command signal sent out of a register not shown, thereby operating the motor 16b, so as to rotatably drive the rotation plate 32 in a counterclockwise direction. The respective 10 yen coins fall, sequentially from one located on the bottom side, into the guide holes 32a in the rotation plate 32 through the wall member 40 and reach the top of the base plate 25.
Regarding the feed operation of one piece of the 10 yen coins, the 10 yen coin that has reached the top of the base plate 25, is pushed by the conveyance projection 32 projected from the bottom face of the rotation plate 32 and conveyed on the base plate 25 according to the rotation of the rotation plate 32. The 10 yen coin thus conveyed by the conveyance projection 32c engages with the limiter pins 45 when reaching near the outlet 40a formed at the wall member 40 thereby being subject to a change of its original direction to one orienting toward the outlet 40a. As shown in
The 10 yen coin 38 when fed out, also engages with the pin 59a formed on the arm member 59 (see, e.g.
The transfer unit 22 (see,
The apparatus is equipped with carrying means for conveying various coins respectively fed out of the six coin feeders 11 to 16 as described above into the payout tray 6 formed at the delivery slot 3b shown in
The belt 67 is wound around a pair of rollers 71, 72 provided rearward and forward. Those rollers 71, 72 are fitted to shafts 73, 74 rotatably attached to the fence members 69 by bearings; the rear roller 72 serves as a drive side; the front roller 71 serves as a driven side. As shown in
With the carrying means thus constituted, a cashier does not have to collect by herself or himself the various coins fed from the coin feeders 11 to 16 and can understand immediately and perform quickly the cashier's task. Use of the belt 67 for the carrying means as in this embodiment allows the coins fed from the respective coin feeders 11 to 16 to be conveyed with a high speed into the payout tray 6, thereby reducing the necessary time for cashier's task. It is to be noted that a chute which is inclined downwardly as it approaches the payout tray 6, in lieu of the belt 67, can be utilized as another constitution of the carrying means, and the various coins fed from the respective coin feeders 11 to 16 can be conveyed through the use of gravity. With such carrying means, no drive force producing mechanism, such as the motor 77 described above and whatever, is required, so that the entire apparatus can be made compact and inexpensive.
The following is a description of the constitution for receiving various coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus. As shown in
As also shown in
The rotation plate 86 is secured to the top end of a spindle 88 rotatably attached to the base plate 85. A small diameter sprocket wheel 89 is secured to the lower end of the spindle 88. A motor 91 is attached to the bottom side of the horizontal frame 10 around the coin dispenser 83; a large diameter sprocket wheel 92 is secured to the output shaft 91a (see
The rotation plate 86 is formed to keep a predetermined clearance between the rotation plate 86 and the base plate 85 except the attachment portion to the spindle 88. The clearance is designed to be slightly larger than the thickness of the 500 yen coin having the largest thickness among various coins to be inserted in the coin dispenser 83. As shown in
The following constitution is provided to transfer along the surface of the base plate 85 the various coins that have fallen into the guide holes 86a formed in the rotation plate 86 and have reached the top of the base plate 85 as described above and to feed them out through the outlet 98a of the wall member 98. As shown in
Three guide grooves 86e are formed in the rotation plate 86 so as to be positioned between any of two guide holes 86a. The guide grooves 86e, specifically, are formed so as to radially extend from the rotational center of the rotation plate 86 and so that each guide groove extends straight, and the guide grooves 86e have respective open ends at the outer periphery of the rotation plate 86. A pushing pin 100 serving as a pushing member for pushing the coin toward the outlet 98a is loosely inserted in each guide groove 86e. Specifically, the pushing pin 100 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, disposed between the base plate 85 and the rotation plate 86, and slidably inserted by its top end 43a into the corresponding guide groove 86e. The pushing pin 43 has a brim at the middle thereof. The brim engages the edge of the coin and pushes the coin. The pushing pin 100 serves to push the coin to the outside of the outlet 98a when positioned at the outer end of the guide groove 86e, and the position is referred to as the pushing position.
Each pushing pin 100 can move between the pushing position and an isolation position at which the pushing pin 100 is isolated from the pushing position, according to the rotation of the rotation plate 86. As shown in
Limiter pins 102 are disposed near the outlet 98a provided at the wall member 98 for passing the coins as described above. The limiter pins 102 are formed upright on an unrestricted end of a leaf spring (not shown) cantilevered to the bottom side of the base plate 86 and are projected from the top face of the base plate through holes bored in the base plate. The limiter pin 102 engage the various coins conveyed by pushing of the conveyance projection 86c of the rotation plate 86 to change the coins' direction toward the outlet 98a and further feed the coins to the outside of the outlet 98a in association with the pushing pins 100.
An arm member 103 is disposed around the outlet 98a and attached so as to be capable of rocking with respect to the horizontal plane against the base plate 85 around a support pin 103a. The arm member 103 contacts at its unrestricted end 103b the coins, fed out by the pushing pin 100 and the limiter pins 102, from a side in opposition to the side that those pins contact, thereby preventing the coins from jumping out therefrom. A spring (not shown) is connected to the arm member 103, so that the arm member 103 is urged in a direction so that its unrestricted end 103b comes close to the outlet 98a, or in the clockwise direction.
In operation of the coin dispenser 83, the motor 91 shown in
Regarding one piece among plural coins that have been inserted, the coin that has reached the top of the base plate 85, is pushed by the conveyance projection 86c projected from the bottom face of the rotation plate 86 and conveyed on the base plate 85 according to the rotation of the rotation plate 86. The coin thus conveyed by the conveyance projection 86c engages with the limiter pins 102 when reaching near the outlet 98a formed at the wall member 98 thereby being subject to a change of its original direction to one orienting toward the outlet 98a. At about the same time of this directional change operation of the coin, the pushing pin 100 that has traveled so as to pursue the coin according to the rotation of the rotation plate 86, then further travels from the true circle portion to the projected portion of the cam groove 85e, and is made to move, as the effect of the projection portion, along the guide groove 86e from the inside to the outside, or from the isolation position to the pushing position as described above. According to this operation, the coin is fed out through the outlet 98a so as to be squeezed out by the limiter pins 102 and the pushing pin 100. The coin at that time engages the arm member 103 and is smoothly fed out without jumping out. Subsequently, the series of operations above are repeatedly performed for the respective coins that fall piece by piece into the respective guide holes 86a in the rotation plate 86.
Arranging the coin dispenser 83 prevents the coins from blocking each other at the coin entry opening 3a (see, FIG. 1), even if many coins are inserted at the same time by the cashier or the like. The coin dispenser 83 thus constituted can feed the inserted coin up to the last one and be made compact since it has a smaller number of parts, so that the coin dispenser 83 contributes to make the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus compact as a whole.
Sorting means for sorting, according to denominations, various coins supplied from the coin dispenser 83 above is formed and constituted as follows. The respective coins sorted by the sort means are stored in the respective hoppers as the storage portion with which the six coin feeders 11 to 16 are equipped as described above.
The sorting means has a disc-shaped gauge 111 shown in
As shown in
That is, various coins subsequently supplied from the coin dispenser 83 described above reach the gauge 111 and are conveyed along the coin guide portion of the gauge 111 by the conveying means described next, and during this conveyance, the various coins fall through any of the openings 111f to 111k having the respective inner diameters corresponding to the respective diameters of the various coins, and drop into and are stored at the respective hoppers. Although the horizontal frame 10 is located between the gauge 111 and the respective hoppers, openings 10a for allowing the falling coins to pass are formed in the horizontal frame 10 so as to correspond to the respective openings 111f to 111k as shown in
As shown in
The numbers of inserted coins and coins fed out of the apparatus regarding this coin receiving and dispensing apparatus can be counted and managed sufficiently because, in addition to those insertion detectors 115 to 120, there are provided the delivery detectors (though only the delivery detector 16a incorporated in the coin feeder 16 is described above) for detecting the feed of coins out of the hoppers with which the coin feeders are equipped. Therefore, the balance can be confirmed immediately even during operation of the register, and as a result, calculation of proceeds would not require a long time as in the conventional way when the balance is checked after the shop is closed.
Next, conveying means is described for conveying along the coin guide portion of the gauge 111 the various coins supplied piece by piece onto the gauge 111 by the coin dispenser 83 described above. The conveying means has a disc 125 in a circular shape shown in
Plural, or in this case, twelve conveyance members 130 are attached with the same interval in the circumferential direction at the outer periphery of the disc 125. More specifically, as apparent from
A small bag bearing 133 serving as a rolling body is arranged at an unrestricted end of each conveyance member 130. A spring 134 for urging each conveyance member 130 downward is provided as shown in FIG. 3. The ball bearing 133 rolls on the coin guide portion or, in this case, on the receiving face 111c, when each conveyance member 130 travels along the coin guide portion of the gauge 111. By adoption of this constitution, the clearance between the pushing portion 130b of each conveyance member 130 and the receiving face 111c of the gauge 111 is maintained always to be a constant, and the clearance is never widened even if the gauge 111 were deformed, so that conveyance errors due to a widened clearance are avoided. With this coin receiving and dispensing apparatus, the conveyance members 130 described above are formed, thereby directly pushing the coins to carry them, so that no coin will be left over, and so that all the coins are surely conveyed and sorted. The plural conveyance members 130 are arranged with the same intervals between them over the entire circumference of the coin guide portion of the gauge 111, and as a result, even though many coins are inserted from the outside of the apparatus, those coins would not be blocked and would be subsequently smoothly conveyed for sorting.
Each conveyance member 130 travels according to the rotation of the disc 125 supporting the conveyance members 130 by drive force generated by the motor 91 aforementioned and disposed, as drive force generating means, on the bottom side at the front end of the horizontal frame 10. A drive force transmission mechanism for transmitting the drive force that the motor 91 generates, to the disc 125, or each conveyance member 130, is provided and constituted as follows. As shown in
The drive force transmission mechanism is constituted of the sprocket 137, the hub 125a serving as a sprocket, and the belt 138 with teeth. Conveyance member drive means for moving the respective conveyance members 130 along the coin guide portion of the gauge 111 is constituted of the drive force transmission mechanism, the motor 91 as drive force generating means, and the disc 125. The conveying means for conveying the respective coins supplied from the coin dispenser 83 onto the gauge 111 along the coin guide portion of the gauge 111, is constituted of the conveyance member drive means and the respective conveyance members 130. Moreover, the sorting means aforementioned is constituted of the conveying means and the gauge 111.
As apparent from the description above, the coin dispenser 83 described above operates by receiving drive force from the motor 91 primarily formed to move the respective conveyance members 130. That is, the single motor 91 is commonly used for moving the conveyance members and for driving the coin dispenser. Accordingly, the number of motors built in the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus is reduced, so that the entire apparatus can be made compact and can be made inexpensively. With this constitution, the movement of the conveyance members 130 and operation of the coin dispenser 83 are inevitably synchronized. If they are not synchronized, the pushing pin 100 (shown in
More specifically, the disc 125 onto which the conveyance members 130 are attached and the rotation plate 86, shown in
In
The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus can implement various performances. Referring to
In this maintenance mode, all the indicators 146d shown in
If as shown in
When the management mode is selected, the functions of the respective switches (select, clear, start) are changed. That is, the select switch activates when pushed the respective indicators 146d turned on one by one, for example, in green light, in the order of denominations such as first 1 yen, second 5 yen, . . . and finally 500 yen, and activates the liquid crystal display portion 146e to display the balance in the hopper of each coin feeder 11 to 16 according to the selected denomination. The clear switch clarifies, when pushed, data of numbers and balances of the denomination selected by the select switch, or the past data in the RAM 144 shown in FIG. 15. The start switch starts the payout of the total number of coins, or the payout of all the coins in the hopper, selected by the select switch when pushed for a predetermined period, for example, two seconds. If the start switch is pushed again during the payout, the payout is stopped.
If as shown in
If the operation mode is selected, though the functions of the respective switches (select, clear, start) are changed as well as the management mode, the normal reception and payout will be conducted in this operation mode. The select switch activates when pushed the respective indicators 146d turned on one by one, for example, in green light, in the order of denominations such as first 1 yen, second 5 yen, . . . and finally 500 yen for displaying conditions inside the respective hoppers, or the remainders. When the select or start switch does not receive any input within a predetermined time, for example, three seconds, the indicators 146d indicate the conditions inside the respective hoppers. After the denomination is selected by the select switch, if the start switch is pushed within a predetermined time, for example, three seconds, the apparatus can pay out the selected coins. For example, the apparatus is designed so that: if the period that the start switch is being pushed is less than two seconds, only a single coin is paid out; if the period that the start switch is being pushed is equal to or more than two seconds, ten coins are paid out. If the normal payout is done, the amount is displayed on the liquid crystal display portion 146e. After the input of the start switch, re-input is possible within a predetermined time, for example, three seconds, and the coins of the re-selected denomination can be paid in the same manner as above. While the indicators 146d indicate the coins' condition, the CPU 141 starts reception operation when the start switch is pushed. The belt 67 (shown in
When the management mode processing (step S8) or the operation mode processing (step S10) is conducted, a judgment is made at step S11 as to whether there is a reception of a serial line communication through a communication line interface 151 shown in FIG. 15. If there is the reception of the serial line communication, the operation shifts to a communication mode processing (step S12) as the first priority. In this communication mode processing, if there are changes or the like, or differences between sold amounts inputted from the register and amounts paid by the customers, as a result of computation at the register, the respective coin feeders 11 to 16 and the belt 67 are made to operate based on a payout command signal produced in response to the differences, and the proper change according to the denominations is dispensed to the recess 6a of the payout tray 6 shown in FIG. 1. If there is no reception of the serial line communication, or if the answer is N (No), a judgment is made as to whether there is any input of an external receiving start switch not shown (step S13). If there is no input of the receiving start switch, the operation returns to step S11; if there is some input of the receiving start switch, a coin receiving processing for the coin dispenser 83 shown in
Next referring to a flow chart in
However, when no coin is detected at the insertion detectors (step S27), a judgment is made as to whether the external receiving start switch not shown is pushed again (step S29); if the receiving start switch has been pushed, or if the answer is Y, the operation returns to step S21 and resets the tinier; if the receiving start switch is not pushed, the operation returns to step S22, and then a judgment is made as to whether it has passed a predetermined time or more; and the CPU 141 repeats substantially same operations as above according to the flow shown in FIG. 18.
When at step S26 motor locking is detected, a processing when the motor locks as described below (step S30) is implemented, and then, the CPU 141 performs an error detection (step S31). At this error detection, if no error is made, the operation returns to step S26; if some error is made, the coin dispenser 83 is stopped, and the CPU 141 renders the liquid crystal display portion 146e shown in
However, if the motor 16b of the transfer unit 22 is locked, the processing when the motor locks is implemented (step S50), and then, a judgment is made as to whether the motor locking occurs a predetermined number of times or more, or namely whether the processing when the motor locks is repeated the predetermined number of times or more (step S51). If it is with the predetermined number of times, a judgment at step S43 is made. If it is the predetermined number of time or more, the CPU performs the stop processing of conveying means (step S49) and ends its operation (step S53).
Referring to
When the operation enters the processing when the motor locks (step S72) in
As described above, with the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, if coins that are received by a cashier from customers in a food shop or the like are inserted into this apparatus, the coins are immediately sorted by the sorting means with respect to the denominations of the currency and stored at the respective storage portions. When the coins are paid out such as for change, the feeding means operates based on a dispensing command signal produced corresponding to the differences between the sold amount inputted in the register and the received amount from the customers to feed the coins of the wanted denomination in the necessary number.
By installing the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus thus constituted, transfer and reception of money with customers can be done in a very short period without worrying about transferring improper change, so that even where a person who has not yet got used to the register operation becomes a cashier, the register operation can be continued without delay.
With the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, the coin guide portion for guiding and sorting the various coins is in a ring shape, so that the gauge in which the coin guide portion is built is made compact, thereby making the apparatus compact, and thereby ensuring space for the cashier's task without reducing it.
With the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, a plurality of openings, respectively having inner diameters slightly larger than the diameter of a corresponding one among the various coins, formed at the coin guide portion, are formed so as to be placed in the order from the smallest to the largest of inner diameter sizes thereof. Therefore, the various coins are stored in legitimate storage portions without an error.
With the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention the coin guide portion of the gauge is formed with a major face receiving face formed with the openings and tapered so that its diameter becomes shorter gradually as it approaches a bottom side, for receiving the major face of the coins, and an edge receiving portion in continuation with the lower end of the major face receiving face for receiving the edge of the coins. In this constitution, the tapered major face receiving face prevents the coins from falling outward based on centrifugal force, and surely conveys and sorts them. When the coins are conveyed, conveyance resistance is lowered since the coins tend to move while rolling along the edge receiving face, so that conveying means can be sufficient even if compact and without large power, and therefore, the apparatus can be made compact. Moreover, since the gauge can be made of thin steel material, the entire apparatus can be made compact and light.
Providing detectors for detecting the coins' insertion to and deliveries from the respective storage portions to manage the numbers of inserted coins and coins fed out, allows the balance to be confirmed immediately even during operation of the register, and as a result, calculation of proceeds does not require a long time as in the conventional way when the balance is checked after the shop is closed.
With the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, the conveying means includes a conveyance member arranged so as to be movable along the coin guide portion for conveying the coins in contact with the coins and conveyance member drive means for traveling the conveyance member. The conveyance member directly pushes the coins to convey them, so that all the coins are surely conveyed and sorted without mistakenly feeding the coins. The conveyance member is formed with a rolling body rolling on the coin guide portion. Accordingly, the clearance between the conveyance member and the coin guide portion is always maintained to be a constant, and the clearance is never widened even if the gauge were deformed, so that conveyance errors due to a widened clearance are avoided. The conveyance members are provided in a plural number across the whole length of the coin guide portion with substantially the same intervals therebetween. As a result, even if many coins are inserted from the outside of the apparatus, those coins are never stuck and are sequentially conveyed smoothly.
The coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention includes a coin dispenser for receiving coins inserted from the outside of the apparatus by a cashier or whoever and sequentially dispensing the coins, for example, one by one onto the gauge. Therefore, even if many coins are inserted at one time, those coins cannot be stuck at an inlet.
With the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, the conveyance member drive means for moving the conveyance members along the coin guide portion of the gauge includes drive force generating means such as a motor and drive force transmission means for transmitting the drive force generated by the drive force generating means to the conveyance member, and the coin dispenser operates by the drive force given from the drive force generating means. That is, the single drive force generating means is commonly used for moving the conveyance members and for driving the coin dispenser. Accordingly, the number of motors built in the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus is reduced, so that the entire apparatus can be made compact and can be made inexpensively. With this constitution, the movement of the conveyance members and operation of the coin dispenser are inevitably synchronized. If they are not synchronized, the pushing member with which the coin dispenser is equipped as for pushing coins and the conveyance member may fall in a locked up situation with a coin sandwiched by them. However, in the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, both operate synchronously as described above, so that such a problem does not occur.
Next, with the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, the coin dispenser includes: a base plate for slidably supporting the coins; a rotation plate disposed so as to face to the base plate, rotatably attached to the base plate, and formed with guide holes for guiding the coins onto the base plate; a wall member surrounding the rotation plate, formed with an outlet through which the coins can pass; pushing member arranged between the base plate and the rotation plate so as to be movable between a pushing position at which the coins are pushed toward the outlet and an isolation position isolated from the pushing position; and pushing member moving means for moving the pushing member to the pushing position and the isolation position based on the rotation of the rotation plate. The coin dispenser thus constituted can supply the coins up to the last without any coins remaining, and further has a smaller number of parts thereby making itself compact. Therefore, the coin dispenser contributes to make the entire apparatus compact.
With the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, conveying means includes a rotation member rotatably provided coaxially with the coin guide portion, formed with the conveyance member, and driven by the drive force generated by the drive force generating means, and the rotation plate of the coin dispenser and the rotation member of the conveying means are relatively driven in a synchronized manner with a predetermined rotation number ratio. By adoption of this constitution, the pushing member with which the coin dispenser is equipped and the conveyance members completely synchronously operate, and the timing of synchrony can be flexibly set by changing the rotation number ratio properly. Accordingly, a situation wherein the pushing member and the conveyance member are locked up by sandwiching a coin will never occur.
With the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, carrying means is provided for conveying the coins, fed out of the storage portions by the feeding means, toward an outlet. Therefore, the cashier does not have to collect the various coins fed out of the storage portions by the coin feeder and can immediately grasp the coins, thereby allowing the cashier's to perform their task quickly. As a specific example, the apparatus may include a belt extending among coin fed positions to which the feeding means feeds the coins and the outlet and being capable of supporting and carrying the coins, and belt drive means for driving the belt. According to this constitution, the coins fed out of the storage portions can be carried with high speed to the payout tray, so that the necessary time for cashier's task is shortened.
With the coin receiving and dispensing apparatus according to the invention, the coin feeder includes: a base plate for slidably supporting the coins; a rotation plate disposed so as to face the base plate, rotatably attached to the base plate, and formed with guide holes for guiding the coins onto the base plate; a wall member surrounding the rotation plate, formed with an outlet through which the coins can pass; pushing member arranged between the base plate and the rotation plate so as to be movable between a pushing position at which the coins are pushed toward the outlet and an isolation position isolated from the pushing position; and pushing member moving means for moving the pushing member to the pushing position and the isolation position based on the rotation of the rotation plate. The coin feeder thus constituted can supply the coins tip to the last without any coins remaining, and further has a smaller number of parts thereby making itself compact. Therefore, the coin feeder contributes to make the entire apparatus compact.
It is understood that although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to preferred embodiments thereof, various other embodiments and variations are possible to those skilled in the art which fall within the scope and spirit of the invention, and such other embodiments and variations are intended to be covered by the following claims.
Uchida, Toshio, Ichihara, Noboru
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