Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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A COIN HANDLING APPARATUS HAVING SLIDABLY DISPLACEABLE
HOUSING PARTS
Technical Field
The present invention relates to coin handling, and
more particularly to a coin handling apparatus comprising
an apparatus housing and a coin processing device con-
s tamed within the apparatus housing, wherein the appara-
tus housing has a coin intake and the coin handling appa-
ratus is adapted to receive coins to be processed by the
coin processing device through the coin intake from a
user.
Background Art
A coin sorter or coin counter that employs active or
passive coin separating technology is an example of an
apparatus according to the above. Active coin separating
technology means that each coin separating station has a
controllable movable member, which in response to control
signals may be switched between an activated position, in
which the controllable member interferes with the trans-
port path and will cause a valid coin to be separated off
the transport path, and an inactivated position, in which
the controllable member is retracted from the transport
path and will admit the coin to continue along the trans-
port path past the coin separating station. Commonly, the
coin separating stations are implemented as electro-
magnetic solenoids with movable cores, to which the
controllable members are pivotally coupled. Which coin
separating station to activate for a certain coin is
determined by a coin sensor and a controller, which will
detect physical characteristics such as conductivity,
permeability, thickness and/or diameter of the coin and
in response generate control signals having appropriate
voltage or current levels and supply these control
signals to the coin separating stations in a timely
manner so as to cause activation of the correct station
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at the correct time (i.e., just before the coin reaches
the station in question), without inadvertently separa-
ting off any other adjacent coin than the intended one.
One example of a coin sorter with active coin separating
technology is disclosed in WO 99/33030.
Other types of coin sorters and coin counters
instead use passive coin separating technology. Here,
instead of using controllable coin separating stations,
the coins are separated by means of a purely passive
arrangement. For instance, an inclined coin rail may be
used, along which the coins will roll down and be knocked
off the coin rail by a series of separating knives which
are arranged at successively decreasing heights above the
coin rail, thereby first separating coins with the
largest diameter, then coins having the second largest
diameter, etc. Another common type of passive coin
separating technology instead uses a rotary feeder, which
transports the coins in a circular transport path across
a base plate, in which coin openings of successively
increasing size are arranged.
For maximum user convenience, many coin handling
apparatuses are top-loaded, i.e. they have a coin intake
provided at a top side surface of the apparatus housing.
This allows an ergonomic work position for a user when
depositing e.g, a box, can or bag of coins into the
apparatus, to be sorted and/or counted by the apparatus
in a coin processing transaction. It also allows the user
to visually inspect the mass of coins thus deposited
before starting the coin processing transaction, thereby
allowing the user to identify foreign objects that are
not to be included in the coin processing transaction.
A coin handling apparatus will be subjected to mal
function from time to time, irrespective of whether its
coin processing device is based on active or passive coin
separating technology. For instance, coins or accidental
foreign objects may cause a coin jam situation which will
stop the flow of coins in a coin processing transaction
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until the malfunction is remedied. In order to remedy the
malfunction, or in order to give periodic maintenance to
the apparatus, the user or a service person will normally
have to get access to the internal coin processing
device, which is otherwise encapsulated within the appa-
ratus housing. When a malfunction occurs, there may be
received coins that still have not left a coin input
region at or close to the coin intake. More specifically,
such coins may represent a substantial weight, and if the
coins are still at the coin input region, they may be in
the way for the user or service person when the internal
coin processing device is to be accessed through the
apparatus housing. In some prior art coin handling
apparatuses, the apparatus housing comprises a top lid or
hood, which is pivotally mounted to the main part of the
apparatus housing. If the coin input region with the coin
intake is provided in the lid or hood in a top-loaded
manner, the user or service person may have to lift a
considerable weight when opening the lid or hood with a
pivotal move, this weight being constituted by the sum of
the weight of the lid or hood itself, the weight of any
coin receiving device provided at the coin input region
(such as an input tray, etc.) and the weight of any
remaining coins within the coin input region.
Summary of the Invention
An objective of the present invention is to provide
a solution to the problems discussed above. Particularly,
an objective is to provide a solution which allows
ergonomic and convenient access to the interior of a coin
handling apparatus in situations such as periodic
maintenance or malfunction remedies.
Generally, the above objectives are achieved by a
coin handling apparatus according to claim 1.
One aspect of the invention is a coin handling
apparatus comprising an apparatus housing and a coin
processing device contained within said apparatus
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housing, wherein said apparatus housing has a coin
intake, said coin handling apparatus being adapted to
receive coins to be processed by said coin processing
device through said coin intake from a user. The appa-
ratus housing comprises a first housing part and a second
housing part, wherein said coin intake is provided in
said second housing part and wherein said second housing
part is displaceable from said first housing part so as
to expose said coin processing device to said user.
Thus, access to the interior of the coin handling
apparatus is provided in an ergonomic and convenient
manner by allowing the user to displace the second
housing part from the first housing part, rather than
opening it in a pivotal move. Providing the coin intake
in the displaceable housing part, i.e. the second housing
part, is advantageous in that it will allow the user to
conveniently inspect any coins or other objects that are
present in the coin input region and that may be part of
the problem, for instance in a coin jam situation. In one
particularly advantageous embodiment, the coin intake is
therefore provided at a top side surface of the second
housing part. In this embodiment, the second housing part
is displaceable from the first housing part in a
substantially horizontal direction parallel to the top
side surface.
One embodiment further comprises a base onto which
the coin processing device is mounted, wherein the base
remains fixed with respect to the first housing part when
the second housing part is displaced from the first
housing part.
Means may be provided for supporting slidable
displacement of the second housing part with respect to
the first housing part. Such means advantageously
includes a pair of rails mounted to the base.
In one embodiment the apparatus further has a
conveyor belt provided at the coin intake, said conveyor
belt being adapted to receive the coins to be processed
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from the user and to feed the received coins to the coin
processing device. In addition, a coin input trapdoor may
preferably be provided at the coin intake, the trapdoor
being controllable to assume first and second positions,
5 wherein, in the first position, the received coins are
prevented from entering the coin processing device and
wherein, in the second position, the received coins are
permitted to enter the coin processing device.
furthermore, a controller in the apparatus may be
adapted, in response to a detected malfunction of the
apparatus, to cause the trapdoor to assume its first
position, thereby pxeventing any received coins from
being fed to the coin processing device and possibly
worsening the malfunction situation.
One such malfunction situation may be when the
second housing part is unexpectedly displaced from the
first housing part, for instance by the user, during an
ongoing coin processing transaction.
In one embodiment the apparatus further has a
controller and a coin sensor, the coin sensor being
adapted to detect at least one physical characteristic,
such as conductivity, permeability, thickness and/or
diameter, in the presence of a coin, wherein said
controller is adapted, during an ongoing coin processing
transaction, to
cause said trapdoor to assume its first position so
as to prevent input of coins from said coin intake to
said coin processing device:
cause said coin sensor to produce a calibration
value related to said at least one physical characteris-
tic in the absence of coins; and
cause said trapdoor to assume its second position so
as to admit input of coins from said coin intake to said
coin processing device.
Thus, the provision of a trapdoor at the coin intake
allows coin sensor calibration also during an ongoing
coin processing transaction by temporarily suspending the
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feeding of coins to the coin processing device by closing
the trapdoor, obtaining the desired calibration readings
from the coin sensor and then resuming the feeding of
coins and the Cain processing transaction by opening the
trapdoor.
In embodiments that have a conveyor belt in addition
to a trapdoor and a controller, the controller may be
adapted, when causing said trapdoor to assume its first
position, to also cause said conveyor belt to stop
feeding received coins.
The coin processing device may employ active or
passive coin separating technology, having e.g. a
circular or linear coin transport path. In one embodi-
ment, the coin processing device operates by active,
circular coin separation and thus comprises a plurality
of coin separating stations and a coin sensor positioned
along a circular transport path defining a coin transport
direction, each coin separating station comprising a
controllable member for separating coins individually off
said circular transport path in response to at least one
coin characteristic detected by said coin sensor, wherein
said coin separating stations include at least one
station assigned for separation of valid coins, as indi-
Gated by said at least one coin characteristic.
As referred to herein, the term "coin" includes
coins that form part of a monetary system for a parti-
cular currency, as well as similar objects such as non-
monetary coins, markers and tokens.
Other objectives, features and advantages of the
present invention will appear from the following detailed
disclosure, from the attached dependent claims as well as
from the drawings.
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Brief Description of the Drawings
An exemplifying embodiment of a coin handling
apparatus according to the invention will now be
described in detail with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which:
fig 1 is a perspective view of the coin handling
apparatus in its normal operating position, where the
apparatus housing is closed,
fig 2 is a perspective view of the coin handling
apparatus of fig 1, with a front part of the apparatus
housing withdrawn like a drawer from a rear part of the
apparatus housing, wherein an internal coin processing
device is revealed,
fig 3 is a plan view of the rear part of the
apparatus housing and the coin processing device of fig
2,
fig 4 is a perspective and partly sectional view of
the coin handling apparatus, illustrating portions of the
coin processing device, wherein input of coins to the
coin processing device is prevented by a coin input
trapdoor assuming a closed position,
fig 5 is a view corresponding to the one shown in
fig 4, however with the coin input trapdoor in an open
position which permits reception of coins in the coin
processing device,
fig 6a is a view similar to the one shown in fig 4,
and
fig 6b is an enlarged perspective sectional view of
one area in the coin processing device.
Detailed Disclosure of an Exemplifying Embodiment
The coin handling apparatus 1 has an apparatus
housing or cabinet 2, which comprises a withdrawable
front part 20 and a rear part 10, the latter of which
also comprises a base 40 for a coin processing device
100. The front part 20 of the apparatus housing 2 is
slidably supported by rails 41 (only one of which is
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shown in fig 2) and may thus be withdrawn by a user from
the rear part 10 in a convenient manner so as to provide
access to the coin processing device 100 and other inter-
nal components of the coin handling apparatus 1, for in-
s stance when a malfunction is to be remedied by the user.
The rear part 10 of the apparatus housing 2 has a
top side 13, lateral sides 11 as well as a back side 12.
The top side 13 has a display 9, which advantageously may
be removably attached to the apparatus housing 2, thereby
allowing the user to instead place the display at a posi-
tion external to the coin handling apparatus 1. The bank
side 12 has a plurality of terminals and connectors 14-
19, one of which may be a display port for connecting the
display 9 to the electronic control circuitry of the coin
handling apparatus 1 (a controller 130 included in said
electronic control circuit being shown in the drawings).
The connectors and terminals 14-19 also include a mains
power connection as well as a computer communication
interface. The computer communication interface may be a
serial interface such as RS232 or USB, a network inter-
face such as Ethernet Twisted Pair (RJ45), or a wireless
interface such as Bluetooth. By means of the computer
communication interface, the coin handling apparatus 1.
may be connected to an external local or remote computer
so as to report a result of a completed coin processing
transaction to the computer. The computer communication
interface may also be used for reporting operational data
such as error rates, coin denomination statistics, etc,
to the computer. Additionally, the computer communication
interface may be used for downloading software and/or
settings data to the electronic control circuitry of the
coin processing apparatus 1.
The front part 20 of the apparatus housing 2 has a
top side 23, lateral sides 21 and a front side 22. A coin
intake 24 or coin input region is formed in the top side
23. At the bottom of the coin intake 24 a conveyor belt
25 is provided for transporting received coins c1 (fig 4)
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to the interior of the coin handling apparatus 1 through
a coin input opening 26. A coin input trapdoor 27 is
provided at the coin input opening 26 and is hinged to an
actuator 28, by means of which the coin input trapdoor 27
may assume a first, closed position, which is shown in
fig 4 and in which the received coins c1 are prevented
from entering the interior of the coin handling apparatus
1, and a second, open position, which is shown in fig 5
and which permits the received coins c1 to enter the
interior of the coin handling apparatus 1. In more
detail, as seen in fig 4 and 5, an angled end portion of
the coin input trapdoor 27 will abut against the conveyor
belt 25 at one of its drive pulleys 29 in the closed
position. In the open position, the actuator 28 will
pivot the coin input trapdoor 27 and its angled end away
from the conveyor belt 25, as seen in fig 5. In this
position, the received coins cl will pass the coin input
opening 26, exit the conveyor belt 25 after having passed
the drive pulley 29 and fall down through a coin input
channel 104 so as to ultimately land on a rotary disc
106, which is part of the coin processing device 100.
Referring back to fig 1, the front side 22 of the
front part 21 of the apparatus housing 2 has an ZED error
indicator 3, a start/stop button 4, a reset button 5, and
buttons 6, 7 for selecting between first and second coin
bags, in which coins that have been processed by the coin
processing device 100 will ultimately be collected
through output ducts 32, 34. The coin bags are not shown
in fig 1, but their attachments are indicated at 31 and
33. In other embodiments, the coin bag buttons 6, 7 may
be replaced by visual indicators, which will indicate to
the user of the coin handling apparatus 1 which one of
the coin bags that is currently used for collecting
processed coins, or by combined buttons and indicators. A
coin reject indicator 8 is provided adjacently to a
receptacle 30 for rejected coins. The reject receptacle
30 is located at an exterior position which is conveni-
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ently accessible to the user, and the reject receptacle
may further advantageously be removable from the coin
handling apparatus 1 so as to facilitate further handling
of the coins that have been collected in the reject
5 receptacle 30. The reset button 5 may also be used for
commanding transmission of the results of a completed
coin processing transaction to an external computer
through aforesaid computer communication interface, or
for storing the results in an internal memory in the coin
10 handling apparatus 1.
The structure and operation of the coin processing
device 100 is generally very similar to that of the coin
handling apparatus which is described in aforesaid
WO 99/33030, which is fully incorporated herein by
reference. Therefore, a lengthy description in greater
detail of all the components is not given here; never-
theless, a sufficiently enabling disclosure is given in
the following. The coin processing device 100 has a
circular coin processing arrangement, which includes two
coin separating stations 113, 114 (fig 3) arranged along
a circular coin transport path 111. The coin transport
direction is clockwise in fig 3. The number of coin
separating stations is considerably less in the exempli-
fying embodiment of the present invention (i.e., two)
than in the embodiment illustrated in aforesaid WO
99/33030 (i.e., ten), the reason being that whereas the
apparatus shown in WO 99/33030 is a coin sorter for
sorting a plurality of coin denominations, the exempli-
fying embodiment of the present invention is a coin value
counter, which does not act to physically separate dif-
ferent coin denominations into different coin receptacles
but merely to identify different coin denominations and
calculate an accumulated value for the processed coins.
Having two coin separating stations 113, 114 even for a
value counting-only coin handling apparatus allows the
apparatus to switch between two coin bags when one of the
bags has become full of coins, thereby prolonging the
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operational time between substitution of full coin bags
with empty ones. It is to be observed and emphasized that
the exact number of coin separating stations is not an
essential feature of the present invention.
To accomplish the transport of received coins along
the circular transport path 111, the coin processing
device 100 has a coin feeding mechanism which comprises a
rotary coin feeder 107, which is mounted at its center on
an axle 105. An electric motor 103 is coupled to the
rotary coin feeder 107 through a drive belt (not shown in
the drawings) so as to cause the coin feeder 107 to
rotate when the motor 103 is driven. An upper cover 101
protects the coin feeder 107 and the other components of
the coin processing device 100 and is secured in position
by a lock 102 which is screwed on to the axle 105. By
unscrewing the lock 102, the cover 101 may be removed
from the coin processing device 100.
When coins c~ have been received through the coin
input channel 104 in the manner described previously,
they are received on the surface of the rotary disc 106,
as indicated at c2 in fig 3. Upon rotation of the coin
feeder 107 by way of the electric motor 103, a resilient
rim 111 which is mounted to the lower surface of the
feeder 107 comes in frictional engagement with the rotary
disc 106, and consequently also the rotary disc 106 will
be caused to rotate. As a consequence, the coins on the
surface of the rotary disc 106 will be accelerated by
centripetal force in a radial direction outwardly and
reach a reference edge 108, as seen at c3 in fig 3. The
coins will then follow the reference edge 108 and arrive
at an end portion 109 of the reference edge 108. In
contrast to the preceding portions of the reference edge
108, there is provided an opening between the end portion
109 and the surface of the rotary disc 106, this opening
being large enough so as to admit the coins c3 to slip
beneath the end portion 109 and arrive at a position c4.
Here, a deflector knife 110 will push the coins under the
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resilient rim 111, as seen as c5, out to a position c6 in
which only a peripheral edge portion of the coins is
engaged between the resilient rim 211 and the rotary disc
106. The position referred to as cfali-off is not a normal
situation, but it will be referred to in more detail
latex.
The coins are then transported past a coin sensor or
discriminator 112, as seen at c7 in fig 3, where at least
one physical characteristic is determined for each coin
c7. Such characteristics may be conductivity, permeabi-
lity, thickness and/or diameter of the coin c7. Coin
reference data is stored in a memory associated with the
controller 130 and serves as a lookup-table that matches
different values or value ranges for said coin character-
ristic(s) to different coin denominations or types. The
coin characteristics) obtained by the sensor 112 for
coin c7 will be compared to the coin reference data by
the controller 130, and in case of a match the denomina-
tion of the coin c7 will be given by said coin reference
data, provided that the coin c2 is a valid coin, as
defined by the reference data. Hence, the controller 130
will add the value associated with the denomination of
coin c7 to an accumulated value of all previous coins
that have been processed in the current coin processing
transaction. The controller 130 will also generate
control signals to the appropriate coin separating
station 113, 114 so as to actuate a controllable member
or deflector 115, 116 thereof, when the coin has traveled
along the circular transport path (position c$) to a
position c9 near the appropriate coin separating station
113. In the illustrated embodiment, the coin separating
stations 113, 114 comprise electromagnetic solenoids,
each having a movable core to which the controllable
member 1151 126 is pivotally coupled.
In fig 3, the first coin separating station 113 is
illustrated with its controllable member 115 in its
activated position, where the deflector interferes with
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the resilient rim 111 and will force the coin out of
engagement with the resilient rim 111, wherein the coin
will fall down into a chute 117 and further down the duct
32 into the coin bag attached to the coin bag attachment
31. Furthermore, the second coin separating station 114
is illustrated in fig 3 with its controllable member 116
in its inactivated position, retracted from the resilient
rim 111 and thus not causing any passing coin to be
pushed off the circular transport path and resilient rim
111.
If, in response to the characteristics) determined
by the sensor 112, the controller 130 decides that a
certain coin is not a valid coin, it is handled as a
reject coin by the coin processing device 100. In case of
a reject coin, both coin separating stations 113, 114
will remain inactivated when the coin passes them,
wherein the coin will arrive at a position c11 where it
hits a deflector 119 in the form of a knife-shaped metal
plate. As seen in figs 3 and 6a/b, the deflector 119 is
mounted at a position after the last coin separating
station 114 along the circular transport path 111, with
one end close enough to the perimeter of the coin feeder
107/rotary disc 106 so as to deflect the coin cll from the
circular transport path into a reject channel 120. After
having fallen through the reject channel 120, the coin c11
will be received and collected in the reject receptacle
30. Thus, in contrast to prior-art active, circular coin
processing devices, the illustrated embodiment uses a
stationary mechanical deflector 119 to deflect reject
coins instead of one of the controllable coin separating
stations. In addition to this, the deflector 119 of the
illustrated embodiment also serves a purpose for
deflecting any valid coin, which has been positively
identified by the coin sensor 112 and the controller 130
as a valid coin and thus should have been separated by
any of the coin separating stations 113, 114 but in fact
has not been separated and arrives at position c11 after
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the last coin separating station 114. The reason for this
may be a mismatch in timing of the control signals from
the controller 130 to the coin separating stations 113,
114, so that the controllable member 115, 116 is
activated a bit too late and the valid coin will "escape"
the controllable member. Another situation is when the
coin bag of the currently used coin separating station
113, 114 has become full and a switch is to be done to
the coin bag of the other coin separating station 114,
113. When this happens, the coin input trapdoor 27 is
preferably closed so as to prevent further coins cl from
entering the coin processing device 100 until the switch
to the new coin bag has been completed, but nevertheless
there may still be coins c2-c8 in the coin processing
device 100 that have not yet passed the coin separating
stations 113, 114. Thus, these stations are kept inactive
by the controller during the switch of coin bags, wherein
such valid but non-separated coins will be deflected by
the deflector 119 at cll into the reject receptacle 30.
The coin input trapdoor 27 is automatically closed
by the controller 130 and the actuator 28, and the
operation of the belt 25 is suspended, in the following
situations:
When an error condition has been detected in the
coin processing device 100, such as a coin jam.
When a calibration of the sensor 112 is to be
performed. To allow optimum coin discriminating accuracy,
certain parameters related to aforesaid coin reference
data are regularly updated by obtaining "no-coin" or idle
measurement values by the coin sensor 112 when no coin is
present along the transport path. Thanks the provision of
the deflector 119 in combination with the coin input
trapdoor 27, a no-coin situation may be quickly reached
also during an ongoing coin processing transaction. When
the calibration is to be performed, the coin input trap-
door 27 is closed, and coins yet to be processed will
remain in the coin input region 24, whereas existing
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coins within the coin processing device will be rapidly
processed by the stations 113, 144 or deflector 119.
In addition to the above, the coin input trapdoor 27
is also kept closed at start-up of the apparatus so as to
5 allow it to reach a correct operating temperature, etc.
The reject receptacle 30 is used in the illustrated
embodiment also for a third category of coins, referred
to as "fall-off" coins. Such a fall-off coin is illustra-
ted at Cfall-off ~-n fig 3. A fall-off coin is a coin that
10 for some reason loses engagement with the resilient rim
111 prior to the intended destination (coin separating
station 113, 114, deflector 119). One example why this
may happen is shown in fig 3; two adjacent coins c4 and c5
do not leave enough space for the coin cfaii-off to engage
15 with the resilient rim 111. Instead, this coin will be
pushed out of contact with the resilient rim 111 by the
knife 110 and coin c4, c5 into the channel 120 and reject
receptacle 30.
The invention has been described above with refe-
rence to an exemplifying embodiment. However, as is
readily appreciated by a person skilled in the art, other
embodiments than the one disclosed above are equally
possible within the scope of the invention as defined by
the appended patent claims.
