Apparatus for Assorting and Counting Coins

The present invention relates to a coin assorting and counting apparatus in which so called mixed coins, namely various kinds of coins, are assorted and the numbers of respective kinds of coins are counted on a horizontal assorting and counting track.

A conventional assorting and counting apparatus of this type (for example, one disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Publication No. 17094/1977) comprises a horizontal assorting mechanism and a counting mechanism disposed below the assorting mechanism. The counting mechanism includes a pair of belts for receiving coins allowed to fall from respective assorting holes, a driving zone for driving said belts and a counting zone for counting the number of coins received on the belts. Since this apparatus comprises two large mechanisms, the apparatus is inevitably large in size and very expensive.

In a conventional horizontal counting apparatus (for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 34084/1970), since it is intended to count the number of coins assorted by each assorting hole based on the difference between the number of coins allowed to fall and the number of coins passing in front of each assorting hole, it is necessary to provide a circuit for memorizing the number of passing coins and an operation circuit for performing a subtraction operation. The structure of the counting circuit as a whole is complicated and the counting apparatus is very expensive.

The present invention has been perfected as a result of investigations made with a view to eliminating the foregoing disadvantages of the conventional techniques. If is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a relatively inexpensive apparatus for assorting and counting coins, and which can count coins very reliably and promptly.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view showing an assorting and counting mechanism according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing the assorting and counting mechanism with the assorting belt mechanism being abbreviated for clarity of illustration,

FIG. 3 is a side view,

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged top plan view showing the zone A of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an inclined counting stand for use in the assorting and counting mechanism, and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines VI--VI of FIG. 4.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with the reference to the accompanying drawings.

Various kinds of mixed coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n on a disc 2 of a rotary disc zone 1 are transferred to a coin aligning course 4 along an assorting ring 3 by the centrifugal force of the disc 2, and in the coin aligning course 4, the mixed coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n are aligned and are continuously fed to a discharge opening 5.

A small gear 8 is engaged with a large gear 7 fixed to a rotation shaft 6 of the disc 2, and a drive pulley 10 is fixed to one end of a shaft 9 of the small gear 8. This drive pulley 10 is connected to a motor 11 through a pulley 12 fixed to the motor 11 and a belt so that the drive pulley 10 is rotated by the motor 11 and the turning effort of the motor 10 is transmitted to the disc 2 through the drive pulley 10. A coin introducing opening of an assorting and counting track 13 is connected to the discharge opening 5 of the rotary disc zone 1.

The assorting and counting track 13 comprises a linear standardizing rail 14 for delivering coins in a line, an assorting rail 15 and inclined counting stands 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . , and located just after the inclined counting stands 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . , are various coin dropping holes 17a, 17b, 17c, . . . (the width of which increases in the mentioned order) differing in width and defined by the standardizing rail 14 and assorting rail 15. A guiding edge 18 having a certain width is formed on the standard rail 14, and assorting edges 19a, 19b, 19c, . . . differing in projection length are formed on the assorting rail 15. The inclined stands 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . are formed to have widths corresponding to the projection lengths of the corresponding assorting edges 19a, 19b, 19c, . . . so that the coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n are delivered placed on the guiding edge 18 and the assorting edges 19a, 19b, 19c, . . . .

The above-mentioned inclined counting stands 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . and coin dropping holes 17a, 17b, 17c, . . . are arranged so that stands having a smaller width and holes having a small width are located nearer to the rotary disc zone 1 and coins are successively assorted beginning with those of a smaller diameter. A delivery bottom plate 20 is formed on the bottom face of the assorting track 13 in the region between the discharge opening 5 and the first inclined counting stand 16a. Each of the inclined counting stands 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . and coin dropping holes 17a, 17b, 17c, . . . has a width slightly larger than the diameter of the corresponding coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, C.sub.3, . . . . While the mixed coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n are being transferred in one direction on the assorting and counting track 13, the falling coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, C.sub.3 , . . . are introduced to the inclined counting stands 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . and are allowed to fall through the falling holes 17a, 17b, 17c, . . . . For this operation, an assorting belt mechanism 21 is disposed above the assorting and counting track 13. This belt mechanism 21 comprises a plurality of coin delivery belts 22a, 22b, 22c, . . . . These coin delivery belts run above the delivery bottom plate 20, the inclined counting stands 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . and the coin dropping holes 17a, 17b, 17c, . . . , and extend from the side of the assorting rail 15 toward the standardizing rail 14 so as to gradually approach the standardizing rail 14 while they are running.

A pulley 23 is driven by the motor 11 through a belt 27 to turn the coin delivery belt 22a of the assorting belt mechanism 21, the subsequent coin delivery belt 22b is turned by the coin delivery belt 22a and the remaining coin delivery belts are similarly turned by the preceding coin delivery belts, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the inclined counting stands 16a, 16b, 16c, . . . have an inclined face having a lowermost point at the terminal end of the assorting edges 19a, 19b, 19c, . . . and an uppermost point on the guide edge 18 and the disc 2 (see the relation between the distances x and y in FIG. 5). A counting roller 30 is disposed at the midway point of the assorting rail 15 at a point lower by one stage than the position of the assorting edges 19a, 19b, 19c, . . . so that a switch 25 (such as a micro-switch, a proximity switch, a photoelectric switch or the like) is actuated by a counting arm 24 attached to the counting roller 30.

After counting, the coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n are introduced into receipt boxes 26a, 26b, . . . 26n from the coin dropping holes 17a, 17b, . . . 17n.

The operation of an embodiment of the present invention having the above-mentioned structure will now be described.

When the mixed coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n are allowed to fall on the disc 2 from a hopper (not shown), the mixed coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n are fed along the assorting ring 3 to the coin aligning course 4 by the centrifugal force of the disc 2 and they are arranged in a line and fed to the discharge opening 5. The mixed coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n fed to the discharge opening 5 are transferred on the delivery bottom plate 20 of the assorting and counting track 13 in one direction by the coin delivery belt 22a of the assorting belt mechanism 21. The mixed coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n delivered by the coin delivery belt 22a are transferred to the subsequent coin delivery belts 22b, 22c, . . . . Since these coin delivery belts 22a, 22b, 22c, . . . are directed toward the side of the standardizing rail 14, the coins C.sub.1, C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n are transferred in the state where one end of each coins is moved along the standardizing rail 14. Accordingly, the minimum diameter coin C.sub.1 is transferred to the inclined counting stand 16a closest to the rotary disc zone 1 and the portion of the coin C.sub.1 on the side of the assorting rail 15 is brought down along the inclined face of the counting stand 16a inclined toward the assorting rail 15. As a result, the counting roller 30 disposed at the midway point of the inclined counting stand 16a at a position lower by one stage than the position of the assorting edge 19a is operated by the so delivered coin C.sub.1. At the same time, the counting arm 24 swinging together with the counting roller 23 actuates the switch 25 to effect counting and display by a counting device (not shown). The counted coin C.sub.1 is allowed to fall from the coin dropping hole 17a disposed just after the inclined counting stand 16a, and introduced into the receipt box 26a. The coins C.sub.2, C.sub.3, . . . C.sub.n other than the minimum diameter coin C.sub.1 are transferred by the coin delivery belt 22b while being carried on the guide edge 18 and assorting edge 19a, and in this state, they pass through the inclined counting stand 16a for the minimum diameter coins. These coins C.sub.2, . . . C.sub.n are counted, assorted and allowed to fall at positions corresponding to their diameters in the same manner as described above.

As will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description, according to the present invention, coins to be assorted, allowed to fall and which are then stored can be directly counted on the horizontal track, therefore allowing the counting operation to be performed assuredly at a high speed. Moreover, the structures of the assorting and counting mechanisms can be remarkably simplified so that the coin assorting and counting apparatus can be provided at a low cost.