DISPOSITIF POUR LE COMPTAGE ET LA MISE EN CARTOUCHE DE PIECES DE MONNAIE

COIN COUNTING AND PACKAGING DEVICE

Abrégé anglais

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A coin counting and packaging device is disclosed which
comprises & tubular body having at its receiving end a semi-circular
scoop and at its counting end a circular coin chamber to hold a column
of coins. At the terminal end of the coin chamber a stopper means, which
may be adjustable, is provided to support the coins in the chamber and to
define a length of chamber for a prescribed number of coins to be counted
and packaged. Standard paper wrapping tubes or wrapping sheets formed
into tubes may be used in conjunction with the device for the purpose of
wrapping the coins into a compact stack. The device of the present inven-
tion is most useful for counting and packaging coins without the necessity
of counting the coins mentally prior to wrapping them, and reducing the daxter-
ity required on the part of the wrapper to package them.

Revendications

I CLAIM:
1. A portable coin counting and packaging device for use
with a tubular wrapping medium comprising:
a hollow tubular body of substantially circular cross-
section adapted to receive coins of a predetermined denomination,
said tubular body having at its receiving end a portion
thereof removed along its longitudinal axis to form a scoop of sub-
stantially semi-circular cross-section, and
having at its other end stopper means, a portion of
which protrudes within said tubular body,
said protruding portion of said stopper means having a
diameter less than the inside diameter of said tubular body to pro-
vide a space there between,
said portion of said tubular body between the end of Raid
semi-circular scoop and the end of said protruding stopper means de-
fining a chamber for holding a prescribed number of coins and when
full, constituting self-counting means.
2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the material of
said tubular body is a metal.
3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the material of
said tubular body is a polymer.
4. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said tubular body
includes a coin observation slot.
5. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said stopper means
is adjustable
6. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein the diameter of
said protruding portion of said stopper is such as to permit passage
of said wrapping medium between it and said tubular body.
7. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said stopper means
protrudes within said tubular body a distance sufficient to provide
self-centering means for said wrapping medium.

8. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said self-counting
means comprises a notch inscribed on said tubular body.

Description

~039Z54 ~ ~ ~
Tb~ present invention r~lates to a ooin counting and pack-
aging de~ice which i9 particularly userul as a portable device for eount-
ing and paokaging coin~ in bank~, loan associations~ commerci~l o~ta-
blishments and other places of bu~lne~s hhere coina of var~ou~ denomina-
tions are handled during daily bu~ine~3 transactions. It i~ p~rticularly
useful for saving time and labour whlle providing error-proor counting
and e~fieicnt packaging means.
~ riefly, the deviee herein de~cribed i~ simple, practicsl
and efficient and o~ such con~truckion that it can be ma~ produced rrom
pla~tic materials, ~etal or any other ~uitable material o~ sub3tantial
rieidity that can be formed lnto a hollow tube.
Xnown means for counting and pa¢kaging coins vary from
sophistieated eombination coln sorting, counting and packaging machines
~hich usually inelude expensive and eomplicated meohanioal and~or elec-
trical eompon2nts to the ~ell known hand counting ~nd manual NTapping of
coins in paper sbeet or tube wrapper~. This latter method i~ relatively
310w ~nd tedious as it u~ually necessitate~ mentPl counting o~ the coins
prior to packaging as well a~ m~nual dexterity when handlin~ and wrapping.
In accordance with the pr~sent invention, a device i8 pro-
vided which eliminate~ thQ need for mental counting of the coins prior toor durinK ~rapping and also provid~s a simple means for packaging with a
substantial reduotion in the manual d~xterity required on the part of the
packagerO More particularly, the pre~ent invention contemplates the u~e
of a device comprising~ in it~ slmpl~st ~orm, a hollow tubul~r body of
~ubstantially circular ¢ro~s-section having an open scoop at ~ receiving
end and a coin stopper at the other end; the tubular body being adapted
to recei~e coins of a predetermined denomination. The tubular portion
bet~e0n the 9COOp and the ~toppsr constitute~ sslf-counting ~ean~ ~hen
the t~be i5 filled ~ith coln~. Wrapping i~ acoomplished by ~nserting a
tubular paper or pla~tic ~rapper over the coins in the tubular body 3uch
that the tube ~rapper overlsps both ends of the coin ~t~ck a~d wlth the ;~
U90 of finger pre33ure, folding the o~erlapping end3 of the tube ~r~pper

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to form a co~pact packag~ of coins. ;-
Other objects ~nd advant~ge3 will beco~e apparent from
the detail~ of construction and operation a~ more fully hereinafter
described with refsrenco to the acco~panying drawing~ in which: ~:
Figur~ 1 is a view in per~pectlve of a coin counting and
packaging device according to an ex~mple embodlment o~ the pres2nt
invention;
Figure 2 i8 a cross-sectional viaw of the device taken
along line 2-2 of Figure l; ::
Figure 3 i9 another cro~s~sectional vie~ of the device
taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2;
Figure 4 i~ a further cros~-æectional view t~k~n along line
4-4 of Figure 2 show$ng the stopper end portion o~ tha deviae; and
Figure 5 i9 a cross-sectional view of a ~uitable stopper
taken long line 5-5 of Figure 4. :
In oporation, the device of the present ~nvontion i8 held :~
in ones hand at or on about the coin chamber portion 14 and at a po~itive
angle to the horiæontal such that the ~ooop 16 is at a slightly higher ~:
elevation th~n the coir chamber 14. Coins of the s2me denomlnation are ~ :
20 then fed into scoop 16 at random and by simply shaking or sli~htly vibra- ;~
tin8 the de~ice, the coins advan¢e into ¢h~mber 14 and generally tend to
align themselve~ at right angl0s to the longitudinal axi~ Or ~he device to
form a column of coi~s. Slot 28 provide~ a visual mean~ for ensuring pro-
per alignment of the ¢oins in chamber 1~. Once the chamber 1~ appears to
be filled, the device i8 brough~ to a vertical position at ~hich point the
coin column is vlsually compared again~t edge 18. An~ coin e~tending
beyond edge lô into 9COOp 16 is simply re~oved latorally of the devi¢e,
wherea~ if the coIu~n doe~ not ~xtand to edBe 18, coins are simply added. ~ :
It c~n be ~een therefor~ that once length ~ ha~ been set ~or Q pre~cribed
number of coins, a full chamber constitutes the exact number of coins
required without the need o~ manually count~g them, thus con~tituti~g
~elf counting mean~. .
.
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1~392S~
Coins are generally packaged in paper tubea or in sp~cially
d~signed p~per ~heets in which the coin~ are roll~rapped. Th0 devic~ of
the pre~ent invention ha~ been conceived to m~ke u~e of these well-known
and com~0rcially av~lable wrapping mediums without the need for manual}y
rolling the coins therein. Of course other wrapping mcdiums msy be used
without departing from the ~cope of the present invention.
In essence, once the coin chamb~r 14 i~ full, ~nd thus co~- ;
taining the prescribed number of coins, the device 1~ tilted to a near
hori~ontal po3ltion to cause the coins to lie at an angle to the longitudi-
n 1 a~is of chamber 14. It will be appreciated that in this ~anner, the
effective cros~-sectional area o~ the coin column is reduced, and will
~acilitate the quick and simple insertion of the coin wrappi~ medium
thereover.
In the ca~e where paper tubes are u~ed, these are inaerted
over the coin column in ch~nber 1~ until the leading end of the tube -~
reache~ flange 20 of ~topper 18 through ~pace 24 as previously describ~d.
It will be seen, therefore, that the leading portlon Or the tube ocoupylng
~pace 24 will in effect overlap the coin colwnn by a length equal to the
length of the protruding portion of stopper 18. Similarly the lag~ing end ;~
of the ~rapping tube ~ill overlap the coin column at the oppo~ite end by
3ubstsntially the same amou~t. Thi~, in ePPect, constitutes ~alf-centering
mean~ for the wrapping medium.
By me~ns of finger slot 30, fing~r pressure m~y be applied
to the overlapping portion of the lagging ~nd of the tube wrapper and thus ~ ^-
fold a portion thereof over the coin column. The partially Nrapped coin
column can then bs displeced to~ard scoop 16 by tilting the devics and
again using finger pres~ure on the overlapping portion of the leading end
of the tube wrapper to fold it over the coin col~mn to form a c~npact
3taok of ~rappod coin~.
In the case ~here paper ~heets are employed, the~e can be
pre~rolled into 8 tube having an outer difimeter ~lightly le~s than that of
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~039254
coin chamber 14. The Yor~ed tube is then inserted into chamber 14 where-
upon inherant 3tra~3es in the rolled tube wlll cause it to con~onm to the ~ :
inner diameter of the coin chamber. ~he ~me procedure employad with ~h~
tube wrappers can be used to complete the wr~pplng process.
It wlll be understood by tho~e skilled ln the art that .;
different size devices are contemplated for use to acoomodate different ;:
coin denoninationq.
It will also be obvious to tho~e skilled i~ the ~rt that ~ -
the inner diameter of the device must be at least ~lightly larger than the
diameter of the coins to be counted and packaged.
It will further be understood that a notch or oth~r similsr
: , .
means inscribed o~ the tubular body or 9COOp may be used to denote a fbll ~; :
¢hamber instead oif edge 18. ,~;
A190~ othor forms of ~topper means ma~ be used without
departing from the scope of the pre~ent invention. :.
Purtha more, the present invention cont~mplates a device
which may be u3ed for ~elf-co~nting and packaging of articles other than -~
coins s~ch as poker chips or other disc-like articles.
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