JPH03225588A - Fault controller for coin lifter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent trouble in advance from being generated by closing a coin inserting slot when a fault is detected. CONSTITUTION:When a coin sensor 26 detects the passage of coins, a motor is turned on and a coin lifter 3 is activated. While driving this coin lifter 3, the driving current value of a motor 36 is inspected and when this value is more than a set value, it is decided that the coin lifter 3 breaks down. Then, the motor 36 is stopped, a solenoid 43 of a shutter mechanism 41 is changed over to OFF and a coin inserting slot 5 is closed.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a coin lifter that lifts up coins dispensed from a coin sorting device to a coin return slot located above, and more specifically relates to such a coin lifter. The present invention relates to a control device in the event of a failure.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Vending machines and the like are equipped with a coin sorting device that can sort and store inserted coins by denomination in order to determine whether the inserted coins are genuine or fake and to dispense change. In such a coin sorting device, a coin passage is configured within the device so that the inserted coin is moved by its own weight. Therefore, the coin input slot is necessarily set at the highest position of the device, and the coin return slot is set at the lowest position.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In a vending machine with a built-in coin sorting device of this configuration, there is a height difference between the coin input slot and the coin return slot, and both are set at the same height position that is convenient for the product purchaser. I can't. Therefore, the present applicant utilized a coin lifter that forcibly restores the coins dispensed from the coin dispensing section of the coin sorting device to an upper position, thereby making the coin return slot the same as the coin input slot. We are proposing a configuration that allows it to be installed at a height.

In this case, the coin lifter is in a malfunction state due to locking of its drive motor, power outage, etc., resulting in poor conveyance and the inability to lift change etc. dispensed from the coin handling device to the coin return slot. may occur. If such a malfunction occurs in a vending machine, even if you insert a high-value coin into the coin slot and the coin sorting device dispenses the corresponding change, the coin return slot will not contain the change. A problem occurs in which the item is not returned. In addition, if the product purchaser inserts coins without noticing such a malfunction, a large number of coins will become stuck between the coin dispensing part of the coin sorting device and the coin lifter, making it difficult to restore the normal state. It also makes the work more complicated.

In view of this point, it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to prevent problems caused by a failure of the coin lifter.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a failure detection means for detecting a failure of the coin lifter is provided, and a shutter means for closing the coin slot is provided in the coin slot, so that the coin can be removed by the detection unit. When a failure of the lifter is detected, the shutter means is driven to close the coin slot.

[Effect]

In the present invention, when a failure of the coin lifter is detected by the failure detection means, the coin slot is closed by the shutter means. Therefore, from now on, coins cannot be inserted from the coin slot. Therefore, even though the coin lifter is out of order, there is a situation where a coin is inserted, or when a coin is inserted, the coin sorting device is driven to dispense change etc. to the coin lifter. Avoided.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a coin sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This device 1 includes a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped device main body 2, and a coin lifter 3 attached to one side of the main body.
It is composed of. A coin slot 1a is open on the top surface of the main body of the device, and a chute 4 for inserting coins is disposed directly above this, and a coin slot 5 for inserting coins CN in a horizontal state is provided at the upper end of this chute 4. is installed.

On the other hand, a return coin chute 6 with a shape that narrows downward is installed on the lower end side of the device main body, and this chute 6
The lower end communicates with the lower end side of the coin lifter 3. A coin return lower is installed on the upper end side of the coin lifter 3 at approximately the same height as the coin input port 5 described above.

Inside the device body 2, from above, there is a coin verification unit 21 that determines the authenticity and denomination of coins inserted from the coin slot 5, and a coin verification unit 21 that determines the authenticity and denomination of coins inserted from the coin slot 5. Coin distribution, which distributes the input coins by denomination, is section 22.
Coin storage section 23 that stores sorted coins by denomination
is incorporated, and the coin lifter 3 of the coin storage section 23
A slug chute 24 is installed adjacent to the side of the slug chute 24, which allows coins determined to be counterfeit coins by the coin verification section 21 to pass downward. Further, at the lower end of the coin storage section 23, a coin dispensing section 25 for selectively dispensing the coins stored in the coin storage section 22 downward is arranged. The payout port 25a is
It is located directly above the upper end opening 6a of the above-mentioned return coin chute 6. Further, the lower end opening of the slag chute 24 faces the coin dispensing port 25a, and coins that pass through the slag chute 24 and fall are also transferred from the coin dispensing port 25a to the side of the return coin chute 6. will be paid out. A first coin sensor 26 is disposed at the lower end of the chute 6 to detect coins being sent to the coin lifter 3 through the chute.

In the coin lifter 3, a driving roll 32 and a driven roll 33 are disposed at the lower end and upper end of the vertically extending cylindrical case 31, and the coin conveying belt 3 is disposed between these.
4 has been handed over. Driving force is transmitted to the lower end roll 32 from a drive motor 36 via a speed reduction mechanism 35 consisting of a belt and a pulley. As shown in the figure, a protrusion 34a that can hold a coin is formed on the surface of the conveyor belt 34. A second coin sensor 37 is arranged on the upper end side of the conveyor belt 34 to detect passage of coins sent from this belt to the coin return lower side.

Here, a shutter mechanism 41 is attached to the coin slot 5, which can close the coin slot.

FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the shutter device N441. As shown in this figure, the shutter mechanism 4
1 is a shutter piece 42 that can vertically cross the center of the upper end opening 4a of the coin input chute 4 that communicates with the coin input slot 5.
The operating rod 43a of the solenoid 43 faces downward, and its tip supports the upper end of the shutter piece 42 in a suspended state. In its off state, the actuating rod 43 of the solenoid 43 is in the protruding position shown by the solid line in the figure, and therefore,
The shutter piece 42 is in the input port closed position. The solenoid 43 is turned on in conjunction with the application of power to the device 1, and pulls the operating loft 43a upward against the spring force of the coil spring 44. As a result, the shutter piece 42 moves to the slot opening position shown by the imaginary line in the figure, and as a result, coins can be inserted from the coin slot 5.

In the device 1 having this configuration, the coin CN inserted from the coin slot 5 passes through the chute 4 and enters the device main body 2, and if the coin is authentic, the coin is stored in the coin storage section 22. The coins are stored in storage cylinders of corresponding denominations in the unit 23, and if they are counterfeit coins, the unit 22 distributes the coins to the slag chute 24 side. The coins that have fallen through this slug chute 24 or the coins that have been dispensed from the coin storage section 23 via the coin dispensing section 25 are transferred from the coin dispensing port 25a to the return coin chute and then transferred to the coin lifter 3. Move to the bottom part.

The coins that have reached this lower end are conveyed upward by a conveyor belt 34 moved by a drive roll, and are returned to the outside from a coin return lower located at the upper end position.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of the drive control system of the device of this example. In the figure, 51 is a control circuit composed of a microcomputer, which executes a control program stored in advance based on various input command signals and detection signals from each part to drive and control each driven part. Here, in this example, failure detection of the coin lifter 3 is performed based on the outputs 26S, 37S of the first and second coin sensors 26.37 and the count of the timer 52, and when a failure is detected, stops the drive motor 36 via the motor drive circuit 53, and at the same time turns off the solenoid 43 of the shutter mechanism via the solenoid drive circuit 54,
A state is created in which coins cannot be inserted.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the failure control operation of the coin lifter in the apparatus of this example. When the power is turned on in step STI, the solenoid 43 of the shutter mechanism is turned on in step ST2, thereby
The shutter piece 42 is moved to the upper slot opening position shown by the imaginary line in FIG. As a result, it becomes possible to insert coins from the coin slot 5. In the initial state, the drive motor 36 of the coin lifter 3 is in an off state, and the conveyor belt 34 is stopped. Next, after initializing the timer 52 in step ST3, steps ST4 and ST5 are looped to wait for the coin to be conveyed to the coin lifter 3 side.

When the passage of a coin is detected by the first coin sensor 26, steps ST4 to ST6.7.8 are sequentially executed, the motor 36 is turned on to start the coin lifter 3, and the timer 52 starts counting. Start. After this, from step ST9 to step ST4.5.1
The loop of returning to step ST9 again via 0 is repeated.

Here, in this example, after the coin passes the first coin sensor 26, the coin lifter 3 transports the coin for 3 seconds, which is a sufficient time for the coin to be transported to the coin return lower by the coin lifter 3. If the passage of a coin is not detected by the second coin sensor 37 disposed at the end position in the direction, it is determined that a conveyance failure has occurred in the coin lifter 3. Therefore, in step ST9, before the timer 52 counts three seconds, step ST9
If the passage of a coin is detected by the second coin sensor 37 at the TIO, it is determined that the coin lifter 3 is normal, and the conveyance end flag is set to the on state in step 5T11. After this, after the timer 52 finishes counting for 3 seconds, step 5T12
The process returns to step ST3 via step ST3, after which a loop of step ST4.5 is executed to wait for the next coin to be conveyed.

On the other hand, if the passage of a coin is not detected by the second coin sensor 37 even after the timer 52 finishes counting for 3 seconds, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the coin lifter. That is, in this case, since the conveyance end flag is not turned on, the process moves from step 5T12 to step 5T13 to stop the motor 36 of the coin lifter 3, and then, in step 5T14, the solenoid 43 of the shutter mechanism is turned off. Switch. As a result,
The shutter piece 42 is in the slot closing position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, and from this point forward, it is no longer possible to insert coins from the coin slot 5.

In the above embodiment, the failure of the coin lifter 3 is detected using the first and second coin sensors 26, 37, but failure of the coin lifter can also be detected by another method. .

For example, if a foreign object or the like gets stuck in the drive part of the coin lifter 3 and the conveyor belt 34 does not move normally, the drive load on the motor 36 will increase dramatically and the drive current value will fluctuate within a certain range. The value will be higher than that. Failure of the coin lifter can also be detected by utilizing this phenomenon. FIG. 5 shows a failure detection operation based on the drive current value of the motor 36. Steps 5T21 to 5T25 are the same as steps STI to ST5 in FIG. 4. First coin sensor 2
6, when the passage of the coin is detected, step ST2
At step 6, the motor 36 is turned on to start the coin lifter 3. Further, in step ST27, the timer 52 starts counting, and the coin lifter 3 is kept in a driving state for 3 seconds, which is sufficient time for the coin to be transported to the coin return lower by the coin lifter 3.

While the coin lifter 3 is being driven, the driving current value of the motor 36 is repeatedly checked in step 5T29,
When this value exceeds a preset value, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the coin lifter 3, and step 5
Moving from T29 to step 5T30, the motor 36 is stopped, and in step ST31, the solenoid 43 of the shutter mechanism 41 is switched off to close the coin slot 5.

It should be noted that methods other than the above example can be used as a method for detecting failure of the coin lifter, and it is of course possible to employ mechanisms other than the above shutter mechanism as a means for opening and closing the coin slot. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the present invention, a failure detection means for the coin lifter is provided, and when a failure is detected by this means, the coin slot is closed by a shutter means. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to avoid the problem of coins being thrown in from the coin slot even though the coin lifter is out of order, and to eliminate the problems caused by coins being thrown in when the coin lifter is out of order. It is possible to eliminate the negative effects caused by

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a coin sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a shutter mechanism disposed in the coin input slot shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a failure control operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing another example of the failure control operation. [Explanation of symbols] 1... Coin sorting device, 2... Device main body, 3...
Coin lifter 4.6... Chute, 5... Coin input port, 7... Coin return port, 26... First coin sensor, 34... Conveyance belt, 36... Drive motor, 3
7... Second coin sensor, 41... Shutter mechanism, 42... Shunter piece, 43... Solenoid, 5
1... Control circuit, 52... Timer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a coin input slot; a coin sorting means for sorting and storing coins inserted from the coin input slot by denomination; and dispensing the stored coins or the coins inserted from the coin input slot; A coin return port disposed above a coin dispensing position by the sorting means, a coin lifter that lifts up the coins dispensed from the coin sorting means to the coin return port, and a failure of the coin lifter detected. A failure control device for a coin lifter, comprising failure detection means and shutter means for closing the coin slot when a failure is detected by the failure detection means.