Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
  • G07F17/24—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for parking meters
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
  • G07F9/00—Details other than those peculiar to special kinds or types of apparatus
  • G07F9/06—Coin boxes

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a coin collecting device for a parking meter with terminal structure.
• the invention finds a particularly advantageous application in the field of securing the storage and collection of coins in a parking meter.
• French patent application No. 97/10446 describes a parking meter operating with coins and having a structure in the form of a stepped terminal.
• a particularly important element of this parking meter is the collection device, commonly called piggy bank, which is the place where all the money contained in the parking meter is provisionally stored and which must be regularly emptied during collections by authorized agents. .
• piggy bank the collection device
• This very sensitive area therefore requires a high degree of protection concerning the security of the currency, both in terms of the storage of the coins and their evacuation.
• the mobile piggy bank is a box into which the coins fall. When the box is full, the authorized collecting agent extracts it from the parking meter and replaces it with a vacuum.
• a pay-as-you-go ticket machine receives coins in a defined area, generally in the form of a funnel, called a hopper, open in its lower part in order to allow the evacuation of money when collecting the ticket machine. .
• the collecting agent hangs an empty collection container, the transfer cassette, on or under the device, and, by opening a hatch, transfers the coins from the parking meter to the cassette transfer.
• the hatch is located in the lowest part of the hopper so that the transfer is carried out by gravity.
• this collection function could just as easily be imagined in the same way with another energy than that of gravity, by suction for example.
• the collecting agent closes the hatch and unhooks the full cassette from the parking meter. It will only have to empty it at its deposit.
• the technical problem to be solved by the object of the present invention is to propose a coin collecting device for a parking meter with terminal structure, which would make it possible to collect coins by evacuation outside of the parking meter, possibly using a transfer cassette.
• the solution to the technical problem posed consists, according to the present invention, in that said device comprises, on the one hand, a hopper for storing said coins, having an outlet opening, and, on the other hand, a means of evacuation of parts, movable between a first position, said closed position, in which said evacuation means closes the outlet opening of the hopper, and a second position, said open position, in which the outlet opening of the hopper is cleared to allow the transfer of coins outside the parking meter.
• the two constituent elements of the device of the invention namely the hopper and the means of evacuation mobile, are sort of folded inside the structure at the terminal of the parking meter, while they are deployed in the open position, the parts collection outlet being offset to the outside of the structure itself. 'parking meter.
• an advantage of the device, object of the invention is that the outlet opening of the hopper can be placed in the center of the parking meter, which makes its fraudulent accessibility almost impossible.
• said evacuation means is a drawer placed under said hopper and comprising an inclined duct having an inlet orifice and an evacuation orifice, such as in the open position of said drawer, said inlet orifice is in communication with the outlet opening of the hopper, said discharge orifice allowing the transfer of the coins outside the parking meter.
• the collection of coins outside the parking meter can be carried out by any means, however the invention provides for the device of the invention that it also includes a container for collecting coins, called cassette- transfer, comprising a movable opening hatch, intended to put said transfer cassette into communication with said discharge means in the open position.
• cassette- transfer comprising a movable opening hatch, intended to put said transfer cassette into communication with said discharge means in the open position.
• the evacuation means is a movable drawer
• the opening door of the transfer cassette is fixed to said drawer, and that the opening of said hatch brings the movable drawer into the open position and, simultaneously, puts the transfer cassette into communication with the discharge orifice of the inclined conduit.
• the hopper includes a system for cleaning coins. It is observed, in fact, that when the outlet opening of the hopper is clear, no piece falls, whatever the shape and size of the opening, this because the pieces form domes in the hopper, domes that must be permanently broken, because as soon as a dome is broken that another is reformed immediately after.
• an advantageous characteristic of the device according to the invention is that it is arranged inside a double-walled shielding, the parts being stored in an internal structure to resist vandalism, itself enclosed in a structure external, in steel for example, ensuring protection. The vacuum between the two walls allows the need for additional shielding plates.
• the device of the invention comprises a system for locking the movable means for evacuating parts, placed in the center of said double-walled shielding, which makes access from outside to said audit very difficult. Lock system.
• Figure 1 is a side sectional view of a collection device according to the invention, drawer in the closed position.
• Figure 2 is a sectional side view of the collection device of Figure 1, drawer in the open position.
• FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cleaning system of the device of FIGS. 1 and 2.
• FIG. 4 is a side view of a locking system of the drawer shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.
• the coin collecting device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is intended to equip a parking meter with terminal structure, of the type described in the aforementioned French patent application. These measures The purpose of collecting is to be able to transfer the coins, for example into a container, such as a transfer cassette.
• said collection device includes a hopper 10 for storing coins from a selector and a pre-collection stage, not shown.
• the hopper 10 In the lower part, the hopper 10 has an outlet opening 1 1 through which the parts must flow at the time of collection.
• the collecting device of the invention also comprises a means 20 for evacuating the coins which, in the embodiment shown, is a drawer placed under the hopper 10 storage and comprising an inclined conduit 21 having an orifice 21 1 inlet and an orifice 212 for evacuation.
• the drawer 20 is movable between two extreme positions.
• a first position called the closed position, represented in FIG. 1
• the slide 20 closes the opening 11 of the hopper outlet 10. This is the rest position of the device in which the coins are piled up in the storage hopper 10 awaiting the next collection. It can be observed that in this position, the slide 20 is somehow folded under the hopper 10, this in all compatibility with the terminal structure of the parking meter.
• a second position known as the open position, shown in FIG. 2
• the opening 11 of the hopper outlet 10 is released and placed in communication with the inlet opening 21 1 of the inclined conduit 21, the opening 212 output allowing the transfer of coins outside the parking meter.
• said transfer cassette 30 includes a movable opening hatch 31, intended to put the transfer cassette 30 into communication with the drawer 20 in the open position. More specifically, it can be seen in FIG. 1 that when the drawer 20 is in the closed position, the opening hatch 31 closes the transfer cassette.
• the hatch 31 is fixed to the drawer 20, then, by a translational movement in the direction of the arrow F in FIG. 1, the drawer 20 is brought to the open position and, simultaneously, the hatch 31 is opened thus putting the transfer cassette 30 into communication with the outlet orifice 212.
• the coins can then flow directly by gravity from the storage hopper 10 into the transfer cassette 30.
• the opening hatch 31 is pushed back, bringing the drawer 20 back to the closed position, and again closing the transfer cassette 30. It will be noted that at no time is the interior of the transfer cassette accessible.
• FIGs 1, 2 and 3 there is shown a system for cleaning the coins in the storage hopper 10. As was mentioned above, this system aims to break the domes formed by the piled parts and which oppose their flow.
• Said cleaning system comprises a pendulum 41 which is a steel rod passing through all the heap of coins in the hopper 10 and articulated at one end 41 1.
• a rod 42 of operation on which is mounted a handle 43 allows an agent collector, from outside the parking meter, to oscillate the pendulum 42 in the middle of the coin domes and therefore to evacuate the currency at the bottom of the hopper 10.
• the collection device is placed in a double-walled shield comprising a wall internal 51, not very resistant to vandalism, and an external wall 52 of steel ensuring protection.
• the void about 10mm thick existing between the two walls 51, 52 can be filled by accommodating additional armor plates, adapted according to the evolution of vandalism attacks on the ground.
• the opening 11 for exit from the hopper 10, as well as the pile of coins, are located in the center of the parking meter, and, consequently, distant from the external walls, which makes it very difficult any attempt at fraudulent access.
• This locking system comprises a bolt 61 and a locking stop 62.
• the bolt 61 is movable between a locked position (solid line) and an unlocked position (broken line), the movement of said bolt being controlled by a key (not shown) passing through the transfer cassette 30.

Landscapes

• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Devices For Checking Fares Or Tickets At Control Points (AREA)
• Control Of Vending Devices And Auxiliary Devices For Vending Devices (AREA)
• Medicines Containing Antibodies Or Antigens For Use As Internal Diagnostic Agents (AREA)
• Saccharide Compounds (AREA)
• Spinning Or Twisting Of Yarns (AREA)
• Protection Of Plants (AREA)
• Electric Clocks (AREA)
• Coin-Freed Apparatuses For Hiring Articles (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=9510352

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Family Cites Families (15)

• 1997
  • 1997-08-19 FR FR9710447A patent/FR2767594B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1998
  • 1998-08-14 WO PCT/FR1998/001810 patent/WO1999009529A1/fr not_active Ceased
  • 1998-08-14 DE DE69820270T patent/DE69820270T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-08-14 AT AT98942745T patent/ATE255755T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1998-08-14 ES ES98942745T patent/ES2213911T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1998-08-14 AU AU90763/98A patent/AU746513B2/en not_active Expired
  • 1998-08-14 EP EP98942745A patent/EP1004103B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2000
  • 2000-02-14 US US09/504,774 patent/US6568589B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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