Check-actuated control mechanisms – Including means to test validity of check – Having means to test surface configuration
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-12
2004-04-27
Walsh, Donald P. (Department: 3653)
Check-actuated control mechanisms
Including means to test validity of check
Having means to test surface configuration
C194S346000, C382S136000, C382S181000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06725995
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a discrimination object deflecting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
A medal is a coin-like metal object which is used in a slot machine or the like in an amusement facility is normally rented to a player according to a price rate predetermined in a game parlor where a game is played. Moreover, the player is severely forbidden to take the medals out of the parlor. However, there are a lot of cases that some players rent medals from another parlor or take rented medals out of the parlor and use these medals in another parlor. As a result, there is a fear that another parlor's medals are mixed in a medal game machine or a medal rental machine in the parlor.
At present, it is considered that the most effective means for discriminating proper medals of a specific parlor is to read the design of the medals which is unique to the parlor and extract its characteristic. The image processing apparatus using a solid state image sensing device which is now practical (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-177893 (1999)) can be applied to this medal discrimination. However, since this adopts frame reading for successively reading an area sensor section where pixels are arranged into two-dimensional matrix pattern per line and the image process is executed, there is a fear that the processing time becomes longer and the apparatus itself becomes large and expensive.
On the contrary, the applicants of this invention have already applied for a patent on a solid state image sensing device and on a form discrimination apparatus using the solid state image sensing device with fast processing speed which can be manufactured at lower price (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-351108 (1999)).
Meanwhile, it is necessary to sort medals or the like which are discriminated by the apparatus into the parlor's medals and another parlor's medals, and such a sorting apparatus is shown in
FIG. 1
or in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-293154 (1997), for example.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, this apparatus has a passage
203
for continuously transferring medals
201
to be discriminated after the medals
201
are discriminated. An ejection passage
205
and a reject passage
207
are provided below the passage
203
. A partition plate
209
is provided rotatively between the ejection passage
205
and the reject passage
207
. When the discriminated medal
201
is the parlor's medal, the partition plate
209
falls to the side of the reject passage
207
so as to block the reject passage
207
, the medal
201
is taken out of the ejection passage
205
. Moreover, when the medal
201
is judged as another parlor's medal, the partition plate
209
is driven by a motor or the like so as to fall to the side of the ejection passage
205
, and the medal
201
is taken out of the reject passage
207
.
However, in the case where the medals
201
are discriminated by the discriminating apparatus that processing speed is extremely fast, since the medals
201
continuously move along the passage
203
, the pivoting movement of the partition plate
209
between the ejection passage
205
and the reject passage
207
cannot follow the movement of the medals
201
, the medal
201
bumps against the partition plate
209
during the pivoting movement so as to be jammed, and defective sorting possibly occurs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a discrimination object deflecting apparatus which is capable of fast sorting for fast discrimination and of discriminating objects to be discriminated extremely quickly.
A first aspect of the present invention provides: a discrimination object deflecting apparatus, comprising; a discrimination section for continuously discriminating a moving object to be discriminated and generating a discriminating signal when the moving object is to be discriminated; a passage through which the object to be discriminated moves according to a discriminating speed of the discrimination section; a deflection passage connected to one side of the passage; a deflection drive section having an opening provided on an opposite side of the passage from the deflection passage and a deflection plate arranged in the opening of the deflection drive section; and a control section for controlling the deflection drive section according to the discriminating signal of the discrimination section. The deflection drive section is arranged to protrude the deflection plate into the passage and retract the deflection plate from the passage at high speed in response to the discriminating signal such that the object moving in the passage and to be discriminated is flipped by the deflection plate into the deflection passage upon protruding of the deflection plate into the passage.
A second aspect of the invention provides the discrimination object deflecting apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the deflection drive section has a deflection plate which can appear on the passage, and a solenoid which appears and drives the deflection plate.
A third aspect of the present invention provides the discrimination object deflecting apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the discrimination section has an area sensor section where pixels for photoelectric conversion are arranged two-dimensionally; the pixels have a photoelectric conversion section for imaging an optical image, a signal comparison section for comparing a signal electrified in the photoelectric conversion section with a reference signal and outputting the result and a signal holding section for holding an output signal of the signal comparison section, and the pixels use a solid state image sensing device, to which address lines are connected respectively for the pixels, and which specifies necessary address lines from the plural address lines and takes out signals into a data line only from the signal holding sections of the pixels specified based on the address signals from the specified address lines; the specified address lines correspond to concentric circles on a disc-shared object to be discriminated; the object to be discriminated being discriminated based on data on the concentric circles taken out by the address signals of the specified address lines. The pixels are arranged in a two-dimensional matrix along the passage for moving disc-shaped objects to be discriminated at a constant speed. The position of the center of a disc-shaped object to be discriminated moving along the passage at the constant speed is determined on the area sensor section according to the position of a pixel that first forms an image of the disc-shaped object to be discriminated among the pixels of the area sensor section.
According to the first aspect of the invention, the deflection drive section is driven by the control of the control section according to the discriminating signal of the discrimination section so that the object to be discriminated can be selectively flipped towards the deflection passage. Therefore, the object to be discriminated is taken out of the deflection passage connected to the one side of the passage so as to be capable of being sorted quickly according to the fast discrimination, and as a result high-speed discrimination can be executed.
According to the second aspect of the invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, since the deflection plate which appears and is driven by the solenoid flips the object to be discriminated, the object to be discriminated can be sorted more accurately and quickly.
According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the invention of the first and second aspects, an optical image of the object to be discriminated is imaged by the photoelectric conversion sections of the pixels, and the signal which becomes in the photoelectric conversion section is compared with the reference signal by the signal comparison section, and the output signal of the signal comparison section is
Beauchaine Mark J.
Jordan and Hamburg LLP
Unirec Co., Ltd.
Walsh Donald P.
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