Check-actuated control mechanisms – Including means to test validity of check – By testing material composition
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-04
2003-11-04
Matecki, Kathy (Department: 3652)
Check-actuated control mechanisms
Including means to test validity of check
By testing material composition
C194S319000, C194S334000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06640955
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a coin inspection method and device for inspecting the authenticity of coins, and more particularly, to a coin inspection method and device suitable for inspecting coins used in an automatic vending machine, game machine, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, electronic coin inspection devices employing induction coils have been used commonly as coin inspection devices used in automatic vending machines, game machines, and the like.
Generally, a coin inspection device of this kind employs the gravitational fall of coins, and is constituted in such a manner that a plurality of groups of induction coils are disposed in a coin passage which guides coins inserted via a coin insertion slot, electromagnetic fields are created by exciting the plurality of induction coil groups by means of respectively different frequencies, and the authenticity of coins inserted via the coin insertion slot is inspected by means of the change in the electromagnetic fields caused by the passage of the coins through the electromagnetic fields.
The inspection of the coins by means of this coin inspection device is based on commonly known principles, whereby the authenticity of a coin is identified by detecting the quantities of electrical change (frequency change, voltage change, phase change) arising from the interaction between the electromagnetic field and the coil when the coin passes through the aforementioned electromagnetic field.
Conventionally, in a coin inspection device of this kind, the characteristics of the coins depend on frequency parameters, and therefore by using a plurality of frequencies, it is possible to achieve a technique for inspecting the material, outer diameter, thickness, and the like, of coins, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,137.
Moreover, in recent years, coin inspection devices employing a technique for detecting the surface shape of a coin have been proposed, representative examples thereof being the devices disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-167655 and Japanese Patent application Laid-open No. 11-175793.
Furthermore, the induction coils in a conventional coin inspection device employ a pot-shaped core or an E-shaped coil.
In recent years, with the process of internationalization, foreign coins have become readily available, and there have been an increasing number of cases where such coins are mistakenly inserted into an automatic vending machine, or the like, or where they are inserted thereinto illegally by people seeking to commit fraud, or the like.
Of these foreign coins, there are those which are similar to genuine valid coins, in terms of material, outer diameter, thickness, and the like. Alternatively, foreign coins which have been made to simulate genuine valid coins by modification, or the like, have become available in large number.
Of these foreign coins and the foreign coins which have been modified, there are those which, although having a different surface design (indentation pattern) or a different coin edge (flange) shape from the genuine coins, have approximately the same material properties, outer diameter and thickness as genuine coins, and hence in a conventional coin inspection device, such coins may be accepted mistakenly as genuine coins, in which case, the proprietor of the automatic vending machine, or the like, will suffer unlawful losses.
Therefore, a technique which detects the indentation pattern of the coin surface and the shape of the edge section (flange) thereof with a high degree of accuracy is desired.
FIG. 18
is a graph of the characteristics of an induction coil used in a conventional coin inspection device.
In a conventional coin inspection device, a device wherein a coil
182
is wound about a center leg section
181
of an E-shaped core
180
, as illustrated in
FIG. 18
, is used.
Looking at the distribution of the electromagnetic field generated at the respective magnetic poles of the induction coils, as illustrated in
FIG. 18
, the magnetic poles in the central region display the greatest strength, whilst at the magnetic poles at either end, the electromagnetic field is reduced to a fraction thereof, and hence the electromagnetic field acting on the coins is a simple peak-shaped electromagnetic field.
If a simple peak-shaped electromagnetic field of this kind is used, it is not possible to concentrate the magnetic flux acting on the coins, and therefore the electromagnetic field acts over a wide area of the coin surface, detection is slow, and it has been difficult to detect detailed features of the shape of the coin surface.
Moreover, in order to detect detailed features of the shape of the coin surface, it has been attempted to adopt optical methods using image detecting elements (CCD) in a coin inspection device of this type, but dust or the like may adhere to the coins, impairing coin authenticity judgement, and furthermore the device becomes not only larger, but also more complicated, and as a result, the overall device becomes expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a coin inspection method and device whereby the shape of the edge section of a coin and the indentation pattern on the surface thereof can be inspected with a high degree of accuracy, by means of a simple single-group coil composition, which is moreover inexpensive. In order to achieve the aforementioned objects, the present invention provides a coin inspection method, comprising the steps of: forming detecting coils by providing a first detecting coil on one of two adjacent leg sections of a core having a plurality of leg sections and a second detecting coil on the other one of the leg section respectively; generating a double-peak shaped magnetic field by exciting the first and second detecting coils in such a manner that magnetic fluxes generated at magnetic poles formed by the leg sections repel each other; causing a coin under inspection to pass through the double-peak shaped magnetic field; and inspecting characteristics of the coin under inspection on the basis of changes in electrical properties of the detecting coils generated by the passage of the coin under inspection.
Here, the detecting coils allows the coin under inspection to pass through a direction coincide with a disposing direction of the first and second detecting coils of the core.
Furthermore, an inspection signal is created on the basis of changes in the electrical properties generated in the detecting coils, and features of edge portions of the coin under inspection are extracted on the basis of a signal waveform of the inspection signal when the waveform increases or declines.
Furthermore, an inspection signal is created on the basis of changes in electrical properties generated in the detecting coils, and features of a pattern of indentations on a surface of the coin under inspection are extracted on the basis of a signal in a maximum change region of the inspection signal.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a coin inspection method, comprising the steps of: disposing a first and second detecting coils, which are respectively provided with a first detecting coil on one of two adjacent leg sections of a core having a plurality of leg sections and a second detecting coil on the other one of the leg section, on either side of a coin passage along which a coin under inspection passes, the first and second detecting coils being connected serially in reverse phase in such a manner that a mutual inductance thereof is negative; generating a double-peak shaped magnetic field toward the coin passage from the first and second detecting coils; causing the coin under inspection to pass through the double-peak shaped magnetic field; and inspecting characteristics of the coin under inspection on the basis of changes in electrical properties of the detecting coils generated by the passage of the coin under inspection.
Furthermore, the present invention provides a coin inspection device for passing a
Kabushiki Kaisha Nippon Conlux
Matecki Kathy
Tran Thuy V.
Welsh & Katz Ltd.
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