Coin Sorting Apparatus and Method

This device is an improvement on the coin sorting machine, Model CS1200 manufactured by the Abbott Coin Counter Company, Inc. of Greenwich, CT 06830. The principal problem which exists with the Abbott machine is that the pennies and the dimes are so similar in size that many of the dimes are removed by the pickoff fingers which are intended to remove only the pennies from the inclined transport rail. This has proved to be extremely troublesome for users of the Abbott machine and this invention is intended to greatly improve the selectity of the machine and substantially eliminate this problem. The problem is greatly increased by the fact that all dimes and all pennies are not precisely uniform in diameter so that oversize dimes are difficult to separate from undersized pennies. By providing a drop-through slot opening in the back of the inclined transport rail and making the size of the slot opening sufficiently large to permit even slightly oversized dimes to pass therethrough, the problem of losing dimes in the penny collector portion of the machine can be substantially eliminated. By providing a drop-through slot for removing the smallest coins and permitting the next smallest coin to travel the full length of the rail and be discharged from the lower end thereof and also providing intermediately disposed pickoff fingers for removing coins of larger sizes, a substantially increase in the efficiency of the sorting process can be achieved over the present Abbott machine.

The Abbott Model CS1200 is the most pertinent prior art known to applicant at this time. A copy of the instruction manual of said Abbott Model CS1200 machine is included with this application and becomes a part of this disclosure.

The coin sorter embodying this invention includes an inclined coin transporting rail with means for supplying coins to the upper end of the rail and is provided with a drop-through slot opening for removing the smallest sized coins from the rail, said slot opening being specifically constructed to produce rapid tilting and simultaneous rotation of the smallest coins to insure that the same will all drop therethrough. The larger coins roll past said slot and the next to the smallest sized coins will travel the full length of the rail and be discharged from the lower end thereof. The larger sized coins will be removed by spaced apart pickoff fingers successively positioned along the rail length between said slot and the lower end of said rail.

The method of sorting coins embodied in this invention includes the removal of the smallest sized coins through a drop-through slot opening in the transport rail with the next smallest sized coins being discharged from the lower end of said transport means and removing the larger sized coins by spaced pickoff means positioned along said rail.

The specific aspects of the sorting device embodied in this invention include improvement of the disc-feeding device by providing dropoff recesses between the circumferentially spaced pickup pins of the disc and also providing recesses in the supporting shelf of the inclined transport rail adjacent the pickoff fingers and along a substantial portion of the initial drop-through slot with all of the coin engaging surfaces of the sorting elements being highly polished to substantially reduce the friction produced between the coin and said selective coin engaging surfaces, thus insuring smooth flow of the coins out of the flow path of the transport rail into appropriately segregated compartments.

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a machine embodying this invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the machine with the plane of the section being disposed immediately in front of the plane of the feeding disc and transport rail.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken sustantially along the line 4--4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 5--5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged full scale view of the transport rail assembly as viewed in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section view taken substantially along the line 7--7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 8--8 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 9--9 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 10--10 of FIG. 9.

In the accompanying drawings, a coin sorting device is illustrated which constitutes an improvement over the Model CS1200 Coin Sorter, manufactured and sold by the Abbott Coin Counter Inc. of Greenwich, CT. The details of the Abbott machine are set forth in the instruction manual which is supplied herewith as a part of the present disclosure.

The coin sorter embodying this invention includes a coin hopper 20 into which the coins to be sorted are dumped. A rotating pickup disk 22 is mounted with its lower portion adjacent to and enclosed by said hopper 20. The pickup disk is tilted rearwardly so that coins may be carried upwardly out of the hopper by the pickup pins 23 fixed in outstanding relation to the face of the disk 22 as illustrated. The disk includes a generally circular pickup ridge 24 fixed to the face of the disk and having a diameter somewhat smaller than the outer diameter of the disk to provide a generally circular inclined outer marginal supporting surface 22a adjacent to the pickup pins 23.

The pins 23 pick up the coins from the hopper and combine with the outer surface 22a to transfer the coins up around the upper portion of the disk as shown in the drawings and deliver the coins to a stationary transport rail extension 30 which overlies the outer surface portion 22a of the disk. The pins 23 travel under the plate 30 through grooves 30a provided therein and the coins are removed from the pickup pins 23 and roll down an inclined rail extension shelf 30b.

A sorting transport rail 40 extends in inclined relation downwardly from the rail extension shelf 30b and is also tilted back at substantially the same angle as the disk 22 in order to carry the coins down the rail away from the pickup disk. The rail 40 includes a lower coin-engaging shelf 41 which is aligned with the rail extension shelf 30b. A plurality of spaced pickoff fingers such as the outwardly curved fingers 50, 51 and 52 are fixed to the rail 40 and are designed to engage and remove the larger sized coins from the rail as they travel therealong. The removed coins are guided into separate chutes respectively designated 50a, 51a and 52a as best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and are carried into the respective segregated compartments such as the collection trays 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64. As the larger sized coins engage the curved camming surfaces of the pickoff fingers 50, 51 and 52 they are respectively removed from the rail 40 and discharged into the trays 60, 61 and 63. The second from the smallest coins, the pennies in the U.S. denomination system, travel the full length of the rail 40 and are discharged at the end thereof into an end guiding chute 55 and into the collection tray 64.

In the form shown the smallest coins (the dimes) are removed by a drop-through slot opening 75 which is provided in the back member 40a of the inclined rail 40. The slot has an upper or leading end 76, a bottom edge 77, a top edge 78 and a lower or trailing end 79. The bottom edge 77 of the slot opening 75 is cut away to provide a recess 77a which extends downstream from the leading end 76 of the slot a distance substantially equal to approximately 11/2 diameters of the coin passing therethrough. The trailing or lower end 77b of the recess 77a is beveled upwardly so that the dime as it rolls down the shelf 41 will ride up on the top edge of the recess 77a until it reaches the beveled end 77b of said recess. The end of the recess 77b is smoothly contoured as best shown in FIG. 6 and as the dime engages the contoured beveled surface it will be "kicked" up through the slot opening 75. The top longitudinal edge 78 of the slot 75 is beveled back from the front side to the back side thereof so if the upper edge of the dime strikes the top edge 78 of the slot 75 it will be positively cammed back through the slot as it is kicked up by the beveled end 77b of the recess 77a. The upper or leading end 76 of the slot 75 is sloped toward the feeding end of rail 40 so that the upper portion of the dime traveling down the rail will immediately start to rotate on its upstanding axis simultaneously with its initial tilting action back through the upper portion of the slot opening 75. This simultaneous rotation and rearward tilting action of the coin causes the upper portion thereof to pass quickly and positively through the slot opening 75 behind the front face of the upper edge 78 so that as the lower edge of the coin engages the beveled camming end 77b of the recess 77a the coin will be immediately and positively cammed through said slot 75 with the rearwardly beveled edge 78 assisting in the rearward camming of the upper portion of the coin, if necessary.

The upper edge 78 of the slot opening 75 is spaced above the shelf 41 a greater distance than the diameter of the coins which are destined to pass through the slot (the dimes in the instant disclosure) to permit the upper portion of said coins to immediately begin to fall back through the slot 75 as they pass the rearwardly sloped leading end 76 of said slot. The width of the slot 75 above the recess 77a is substantially equal to the diameter of the dimes and the width of the portion 77c of the slot downstream of the lower end 77b of the recess 77a is slightly less than the diameter of said dimes. There is a sufficient retaining shoulder 40b provided below the recess 77a to keep the lower edge of the pennies and the larger sized coins on the rail shelf 41 as they roll past the slot opening 75. The trailing or downstream end 79 of the slot 75 is smoothly beveled from the back to the front surface of back member 40a to provide a beveled front surface of the back member 40a extending downstream from the downstream end 79 of the slot 75. The end 79 is also curved, as viewed in front elevation and shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. This prevents the possibility of pennies or other larger coins from being obstructed by engagement against the end 79 of the slot 75 and also prevents the dimes from being jammed in crosswise position if engaged by the following larger coins traveling down the rail shelf 41. After the dimes pass through the slot opening 75 they fall through a chute 75a behind the chute 51a and down into the collection tray 62 as best shown in FIG. 1.

The pickoff fingers 50, 51 and 52 have smoothly polished beveled coin engaging camming surfaces to minimize the resistance of the coins engaged therewith. Also the portions of the shelf 41 disposed immediately below the curved camming surfaces of said pickoff fingers are beveled to provide relief recesses 50b, 51b and 52b to permit the coins engaged by the respective overhead fingers to drop away without restriction as soon as they are cammed away from the back member 40a by engagement with the respective fingers 50, 51 and 52. The portion of the shelf remaining behind each of the recesses 50b, 51b and 52b is of sufficient width to support the pennies and the larger coins as they roll down the rail.

It will be noted that the circular coin pickup ridge 24 of the rotating coin pickup disk 22 has a plurality of beveled coin release recess portions 24a in spaced relation ahead of each pair of pins 23 by a distance slightly greater than the radius of the largest coin being sorted. This will prevent more than one coin at a time from being transported by each set of pins 23 onto the rail extension shelf 30b. In other words these recess portions 24a are designed so that no coins can be supported at those portions of the ridge 24 and this will insure that the coins will be delivered to the rail extension shelf 30b one at a time.

As indicated by the instruction manual of the prior art Abbott device, said Abbott device uses a rotating coin pickup disk and ridge assembly similar to that disclosed herein except for the provision of the coin release recess portions 24a. The Abbott device also employs an inclined rail assembly but instead of using the drop through slot 75 in combination with the pickoff fingers 50, 51 and 52 embodied in this invention, said Abbott device embodies only spaced pickoff fingers generally similar to the fingers 50, 51 and 52 except for the relief recesses 50b, 51b and 52b. The problem with this construction is that the pickoff finger for the pennies frequently remove the dimes also as has been stated previously herein. The combination of the drop through slot 75 for the smallest sized coins with the pickoff fingers permits coins of very similar size denominations to be accurately separated and eliminates this problem. It should be pointed out that while the present device shows only three pickoff fingers, that an additional pickoff finger could be provided for the Anthony dollar coins introduced recently into the United States coin denominations and it will also be apparent that the present invention is well adapted for a retrofit modification for the present Abbott device in use as well as a new machine embodying the sorting rail assembly disclosed herein.