Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~2795a~
338-60
AN INST~LL~TION FOR CONVEYING COINS BETWEEN AN AUTOM~TIC
PAYMENT MACHINE AND ~ COIN PROCESSING ST~TION
The present invention relates to an installation
for conveying coins between an automatic paying machine and
a coin processing station. This installation is more espe-
cially intended for motorway toll sta~ions, but may also be
used for parking tolls, ticket dispensers, gaming machines
and generally in all fields where there is coin collection.
~t the present time, machines for automatic
payment by means of coins are generally equipped with coin
collection boxes which must periodically be removed and
replaced.
The transport is effected either by hand or using
conventional handling means. This method of operation
involves risk as there is the possibility of robbery. In
addition, the operating costs are relatively high espe-
cially because of labour costs
A pneumatic transport system is also known which
overcomes the above problems by directly drawing up the
coins by suction. This system has however the drawback of
uninterrupted operation resulting in a high energy consump-
tion In addition, the coins wear, with the production of
metal filings.
~1--
~Z7~545
The main aim of the present invention is to over-
come these drawbacks. The present invention therefore
provides an installation for conveying coins between an
automatic payment machine and a coin processing station,
comprising at least one self driven carriage adapted for
moving automatically between the payment machine and the
processing station, the carriage being equipped with a
container having at its upper part an input orifice through
which the coins are fed to the inside, characterized in that
it further comprises at least one buffer reservoir placed on
each payment machine and through which the coins fed into the
machine transit, this reservoir temporarily retaining said
coins during movement of the carriage to the processing
station and allowing these coins to pass directly to the
container of the carriage when this latter is stopped under
the payment machine, said container having at its lower part
a trap door the opening of which is controlled for
. discharging the contents of the container to the processing
station.
Preferably, the self driven carriage moves over
guide rails disposed inside an underground tunnel.
With this arrangement, the coins are safely
transferred without any manual intervention and for a
reasonable cost as far as the processing station may be for
example a strong room or premises of a motorway toll station.
. .
12795~5
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the
buffer reservoir has at its upper part an orifice through
which the coins fed into the payment machine freely fall
inside and at its lower part a closure flap, the opening of
which is controlled by means of an electro-magnet, related
with the movements of the self driven carriage.
~ duct is advantageously disposed under the
buffer reservoix for providing gravity transfer of the
coins into the container of the carriage situated below,
when the closure flap of said reservoir is open.
Opening and closing of the trap door of the con-
tainer are effected by a link driven with a reciprocal
movement by a rotary plate driven by an electric motor.
The closed position of the trap door corresponds to the top
dead point of the link.
With such an arrangement, when the trap door is
closed, it is impossible to open it by pulling and it
remains closed without requiring power supply. Opening can
only be achieved by supplying the motor with power.
One embodiment of the invention is described
hereafter by way of example, with reference to the accom-
panying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a simplified sectional view of a coin
conveying installation in accordance with the invention;
Figures 2 and 3 are enlarged views of the self
driven carriaqe equipped with its container;
~LZ79~;4~i
Figures 4 to 6 are diagrams illustratinq the
operation of the system for opening the trap door of the
container; and
Figures 7 to 9 are diagrams illustrating the
operation of the closure flap of the buffer reservoir
situated on the automatic payment machine.
The purpose of the installation shown in Figure l
is to provide the automatic transfer of coins collected in
a payment machine 1, forming for example part of a motorway
toll station, to a processing station where they are
discharged, for example in a strong room.
In accordance with the invention, this transfer
is achieved by means of self driven carriages 2 each
equipped with a specialized container 3 adapted for
receiving the coins collected by the payment machine 1.
This container is provided at its upper part with an input
orifice 4 in the form of a funnel through which the coins
are fed. At its lower part there is a mobile trap door 5,
shown in Figures 4 to 6, which, when opened, allows the
contents of the container to be discharged to the pro-
cessing station.
~ach payment machine 1 is further equipped with a
buffer reservoir 6 which will be described in greater
detail further on. After processing, the coins fed into
the machine through slots or through a basket 7, such as
shown in the Figure, fall into this buffer reservoir, where
~Z~795~S
they may be temporarily retained during movement of
carriage 2.
In the particular example described here,
carriage 2 moves inside an underground tunnel 8 on guide
rails 9. The transfer of the coins between the buffer
reservoir 6 of the payment machine 1 installed on the sur-
face and container 3 of carriage 2 situated in the
underground tunnel 8 takes place through the ground by
means of a duct 10 having an upper spout 11 and a lower
spout 12. So that the input orifice 4 of ~he container is
situated exactly below the lower spout 12, the carriage is
stopped precisely at the loading station in a way known per
se using a fixed selected 13 cooperating with iden-
tification means carried by the carriage.
As can be clearly seen in Figures 2 and 3, the
guide rail 9 of carriage 2 is fixed to the ceiling of the
underground tunnel 8 by suspension rods 14. The carriage
travels over this rail by means of two sets of lower
rollers 15 and two sets of upper rollers 16. Movement
thereof is provided by a friction wheel 17 rotated by a
traction motor not shown. The friction wheel 17 is also
firmly secured to a toothed wheel 18 adapted for
cooperating with a rack 19 provided for this purpose in the
uphill or downhill parts of the path, which allows the
carriage to negotiate relatively steep slopes~
Rail 9 communicates to the carriage the power
~Z79~;4~
which it receives from a fixed power supply, by means of
two insulated conductin~ bars 20 coo~erating with
collecting shoes 21 carried by the carriage and through
which the electric traction motor is supplied with power.
The direction of movement of the carriage is determined by
the polarities of the voltage applied to bars 20 and thus
the direction can be changed by simply reversing these
polarities.
A third insulated conducting bar 22, associated
with a collecting shoe 23, allows orders and controls to be
exchanged between the central control unit and the
carriage, in particular the order for opening the trap door
5 of container 3.
The carriage may be stopped, either by an exter-
nal order when its identity has been recognized by selector
13, or bY an internal current switch off, effected indepen-
: dently, by means of sensors 24 provided at both ends of the
carriage, when an obstacle or another carriage is met.
The loading point of container 3, determined by
selector 13, is protected from fraudulent attacks upstream
and downstream by a removable protective tunnel 25 sealed
by means of a lock closed with a key 26.
The specialized container 3 will now be described
in greater detail with reference to Figures 4 to 6. ~his
container comprises three main components, namely:
- a storage compartment 27 closed by trap door 5.
~279S~S
The coins enter compartment 27 through the funnel shaped
input orifice 4;
- a compartment 28 containing the mechanism for
controlling the trap door 5, closed b~ a maintenance access
door 29 locked by a lock with key 30; and
- a compartment 31 in which is located a motor
driven reducer 32 actuating the mechanism of the trap door.
This mechanism ensures, successively and in a
single cycle, opening and closing of trap door 5 which is
mounted for pivoting at 33 on one of ~he sides of container
3. It is formed essentially of a link 34 one end of which
is pivotably connected to trap door 5 and the other end of
which is pivoted to a rotary plate 35. Plate 35 is mounted
on the output shaft 36 of the motor driven reducer 32 and
rotates through a complete revolution per cycle. The rota-
tion movement of the rotary plate is thus transformed by
the link into a reciprocal movement which it communicates
to trap door 5.
Figure 4 shows the movement for opening the trap
door and Figure 5 shows the trap door in the closed posi-
tion. It will be noted that this closed position
corresponds to the top dead point of link 34, so that it is
impossible to open the trap door by simply pulling it.
Holding the trap door in the closed position
without requiring an energy supply is further improved by
two special arrangements. The first one is formed by an
~Z795~;
oval bore 37 in the rotating plate 35. ~ bearing 38,
forming the top pivot of the link, moves freely in bore 37.
The second is formed by a half bearing 39 formed on the
rotary plate on the side opposite the pivot pin of the link
and on which comes to bear a second journal bearing 40
fixed to the link.
Thus, when the trap door is in the closed posi-
tion, any force exerted thereon from below or any pressure
exerted from the top automatically causes the link to be
aligned with the vertical axis of the container and since
this position corresponds precisely to the top dead point
of a link, the trap door remains closed. It follows that
the trap door can only be opened by supplying the motor
driven reducer 32 with power by means of an external order
transmitted to the carriage through the conducting bar 22
of the guide rail 9, which forms an important safety pre-
caution.
Moreover, closure of the trap door as well as the
closure of the maintenance access door 29 are controlled by
a switch 41 mounted directly on said door. A proximity
sensor 42 further allows the passage of the trap door of
the open position to be checked when a magnet 43 fixed to
the rotary plate 35 passes through the low point of the
link. Another proximity sensor 44 causes the motor driven
reducer 32 to be stopped when this magnet 43 again passes
through the top point.
.....
lZ79545
~s shown in Figure 3, container 3 is secured to
carriage 2 by means of a quick fixing plate 45 comprising
at one end two symmetrical hooks 46 adapted for engagement
in two corresponding slots formed in the side of the con-
tainer. ~t the other end, the container is held in posi-
tion by two large self locking screws 47 fitting into two
buttonholes formed in the top of the container. For safety
reasons, these two screws are only accessible through the
maintenance door 29 which is locked with a key. If
required, these two screws could also be sealed.
As for the buffer reservoir 6, shown in greater
detail in Figures 7 to 9, it is essentially formed of a
storage compartment 48. Coins freely fall in through an
upper input orifice 49, and the compartment 48 is closed at
its lower part by a mobile flap 50. A second compartment
51 contains the mechanism for operating the mobile flap 50,
with two electromagnets 52 and 53 controlling respectively
the opening and closing of the flap.
When it is supplied with power, the electromagnet
52 pulls an arm 54 mounted for pivoting at 55 and flap 50
which is secured to this arm pivots into the closed posi-
tion, as shown in Figure 8. The flap is held in the closed
position without requiring a power supply by means of a
right angled bracket 56 mounted for pivoting at 57.
~racket 56 bears on the free end of arm 54 under the action
of a spring 58 connected between the bracket and the arm,
for locking this latter in the low position.
_g_
1279~;4S
When electromagnet 53 is supplied with power, it
causes bracket 56 to pivot rearwardly about its pivot pin
57, thus freeing arm 54 which then comes back into the top
position under the action of spring 58, driving flap 50
into the open position, as shown in Figure 7.
In this latter position, the coins fed into the
autcmatic payment machine 1 pass freely through the buffer
reservoir and then fall by gravity into container 3 of
carriage 2 which is stopped below, after passing through
duct 10 and spouts 11 and 12. During movement of the
carriage to the discharge point into the strong room, flap
50 is closed by electromagnet 52 and the buffer reservoir
then temporarily retains the coins in compartment 48, the
volume of this compartment being sufficient to store coins
during the movements of the carriage.
Generally, there are several payment machines and
a self driven carriage is provided for each machine. The
carriages then move in convoy if the in~tallation only
comprises a single rail along which the different machines
are disposed in series. In this case, the end of the
single rail situated beyond the unloading point forms a
storage zone for the carriages which have just been
unloaded. ~fter unloading, all the carriages return in
convoy to the payment machines.
The carriages may also move independently of each
other over several rails. Bypasses may be formed in the
--10--
~L~'79~;4S
halt stations for forming sidings.
If required, each carriage can be assigned to
several machines which would then be collected suc-
cessively.
Of course, the operation of the installation is
wholly or partially automated over the whole chain, through
commands and controls which are transmitted over electrical
connections connecting the central units of the automatic
payment machines and the conveying robot to the local
control-command logics and to the central processor of the
supervision room.
Outgoing of the carriages to the unloading point
may be commanded at fixed time intervals, based on an esti-
mation of the minimum time for filling a container.
However, when the payment machines count the
coins to be stored, it is possible to give starting orders
based on the filling and according to the method of
transport of the carriages. Thus, when the carriages move
in convoy, the starting order is given by the central
system, processor of the supervision room or automatic
device, as soon as only one of the carriages is full.
On the other hand, when the carriages move inde-
pendently, each payment machine gives the starting order to
the carriage which is assigned to it as soon as the
carriage is full.
The conveying installation of the invention thus
~2795A5
has a very great flexibility in use and allows coins to be
transferred from the payment machines safely and without
human intervention.
-12-
