Check-actuated control mechanisms – Including specific check passageway – And movable check diverter
Patent
1991-10-10
1992-08-18
Bartuska, F. J.
Check-actuated control mechanisms
Including specific check passageway
And movable check diverter
193 31A, G07F 104
Patent
active
051391309
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to devices for guiding coins, to different and selectable paths after they have arrived at the device on substantially the same path.
The particular device to be described is designed specifically for guiding coins which have been validated by an electronic coin validator to different paths which respectively lead to different storage locations each for a particular denomination of coin. In that situation, the validator will determine the denomination of the coin, and the validator will control the guiding device so that it will deliver that coin to the path which leads to the correct storage location for coins of that denomination.
There is a requirement for different coin denominations to be stored separately, in coin mechanisms which have to give change, for example in vending machines, and in coin mechanisms which have to pay out prizes, for example in gaming machines.
Devices for separating incoming coins onto different paths have generally been referred to as coin sorters and include passive types and active types. In passive coin sorters, such as window sorters, the path of the coins is provided with fixed mechanical features so designed that coins of different denominations, because of their different dimensions, will depart from the path at different points and thereafter will travel to different storage locations. As the number of different denominations to be sorted increases, it becomes more and more difficult to design passive sorters that will operate reliably, and they become undesirably large. In active coin sorters, typically a group of independently solenoid actuated gates is provided which can be switched into different configurations to divert an incoming coin onto anyone of a number of outlet paths. These also tend to become bulky as the number of coin denominations to be sorted increases, and the plurality of actuators required makes them fairly costly and increases the chance of mechanical or electrical failure.
The present invention aims to provide an active coin sorter which is compact, especially in height, relatively simple in construction, and capable of sorting coins onto a relatively large number of paths.
FR-A-158430 discloses a device in which arriving coins are initially stopped, and then are either returned to a customer or directed into a coin storage system, by means of an element which swings to and fro below a coin entry about an axis located above the coin entry.
The invention provides a device for guiding a coin arriving in an entry of the device to a selected one of a plurality of exits of the device, comprising a movable guide having a plurality of inlets each leading to an outlet, the guide being movable to position said outlet in register with any selected one of said exits, and said inlets being so arranged that one of them is in a position to admit a coin arriving through said entry irrespective of the position of the guide, whereby said coin is guided from said one inlet via the common outlet to the selected exit, characterised in that the inlets lead to a common outlet and the movement of the guide comprises a rotational movement about an axis between the entry and the exits.
In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, a preferred embodiment will be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:
FIGS. 1(a) to (f) show a coin guiding device in accordance with the invention set to respective different positions in order to guide incoming coins to different paths, and
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of components of the device shown in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1(a) and 2, the device comprises a support plate 2 the upper part 4 of which projects forwardly and is formed with an entry 6 for arriving coins 8.
A plurality of vanes 10 are fixed to the front of the support plate 2 near its lower end and define between them eleven exits of the device in the form of passageways 12. A different number of exits may of course be provided.
The device further includes a generally drum-like
REFERENCES:
patent: 4082099 (1973-04-01), Iwersen
patent: 4263924 (1981-04-01), Johnson
Bartuska F. J.
Mars Incorporated
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