Coin handling – Assorter – Photoelectric
Patent
1988-03-21
1989-11-21
Bartuska, F. J.
Coin handling
Assorter
Photoelectric
194334, 453 56, G07D 314
Patent
active
048819182
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to coin or disc sorting equipment and particularly, but not exclusively, to equipment designed to operate at high speed.
For convenience the term "coin" will be used hereinafter to include a bogus coin or a disc.
Coin sorters have been proposed in which coins in single file are carried along a smooth horizontal support surface by a belt, the coins being held between the belt and the support surface, and the support surface is provided with apertures of different sizes under the path of the belt so that coins of different diameters fall through the appropriately sized apertures and are thereby sorted according to diameter.
Such sorters suffer from various disadvantages. Since they sort by diameter they will not, of course, distinguish between two different coins of the same diameter, which is a problem when coins from different countries are being handled, or when bogus coins or foreign coins are encountered in a batch of coins nominally of one country.
In one proposal (WO85/05478 of Zimmerman) an attempt is made to sort out bogus or foreign coins before the coins reach the sorting aperture by deflecting such coins into a reject aperture which is displaced to one side of the path of the belt in response to a reading from an optical coin testing means positioned immediately in advance of the deflecting device.
The present sorters of this type are relatively crude since they rely, apart from the rejection device, upon a mechanical testing arrangement.
Such sorters are limited as to the speed of operation, and therefore the numbers of coins that can be handled per unit time. This is because they rely largely on gravity to carry the coins though the apertures, that is to take a coin which has reached its corresponding aperture out of the path of the following coin which may need to proceed to a more distant aperture. As the speed of operation is increased it is possible for the following coin, which is being positively driven by the belt, to collide with the coin which is in the course of falling through the aperture, and which accordingly is not being driven by the belt.
According to one aspect of the invention a coin sorter comprises a support surface, a coin transport belt extending in proximity to the surface and arranged to carry coins trapped between the belt and the support surface along the surface, an encoder associated with the belt drive or belt to provide a signal representative of the position of a portion of the belt, means for feeding coins in serial manner to the belt, a coin measuring means positioned at a first location in the path of the belt, and at least one selectively operable coin deflection means located at a second location in the path of the belt downstream of the first location, and control means arranged such that, in response to a signal from the coin measuring means that requires the coin to be deflected by the deflection means, the deflection means is arranged to be active when the coin reaches the second location as determined from the encoder signal.
Thus the progress of the coin along the support surface is monitored by monitoring the encoder signals, and the deflection means can be arranged to be activated at the appropriate time.
Since in a high speed coin sorter, in which the aim is to send as many coins in a given time as possible along the support surface, there will often be several coins between the first and second locations, it will usually be necessary to ensure that the deflection means is not prematurely activated in order to ensure that only the correct coin is deflected. That is why the encoder is required to monitor the progress of the coins along the support surface.
Thus, it will be appreciated that positive action is being taken by the deflection means in response to an earlier measurement which is timed by monitoring the coins progress, as compared with the passive arrangement of sorters employing sorting apertures.
Usually a series of selectively operable coin deflectors will be provided which are selectively operated by the control s
REFERENCES:
patent: 3680566 (1972-08-01), Tanaka et al.
patent: 4259571 (1981-03-01), Dubberly
patent: 4261377 (1981-04-01), Ueda
Goh David
Howells Geoffrey
Moran-Iturralde Anthony M.
Bartuska F. J.
Scan Coin AB
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