Claims
- 1. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination, said apparatus comprising:
- a rotating disc having a resilient surface for receiving said mixed denomination coins and imparting a rotational movement to said mixed denomination coins,
- a stationary disc having ridges and recesses on its underside and being proximate to said resilient surface of said rotating disc,
- a first area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving the rotating mixed denomination coins into the region between the two discs,
- a second area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for removing coins stacked or shingled on another coin,
- a third area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving coins from said second area and said recesses in said third area having regions for releasing coins from a pressed engagement with said resilient surface and thereby permitting radial movement of coins within said regions by centrifugal force, and said regions being shaped to guide coins in a single file along a predetermined path to predetermined radial positions on the rotating disc, and
- a fourth area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving coins from said third area and effecting a pressed engagement with said rotating disc and with said recesses of said fourth area releasing coins in said fourth area from pressed engagement and being shaped to permit coins of different sizes to escape radially from between the two discs, by centrifugal force, at different preselected positions along the periphery of said stationary disc.
- 2. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination as set forth in claim 1 wherein said third area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc includes a first recess having a width approximately equal to the largest diameter coin denomination, whereby coin denominations of the largest diameter are urged by the inner edge of said first recess against the outer edge of said first recess.
- 3. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination as set forth in claim 1 including in said first, second and third areas of ridges and recesses circumferential transitions between said ridges and recesses with said transitions having a gradient less than 90.degree. so as to create a wedge-shaped transition which reduces coin bounce within said recesses.
- 4. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination as set forth in claim 1 wherein a first recess in said fourth area of ridges and recesses extends into said third area of ridges and recesses to provide a transition from said third area to said fourth area for the smallest denomination coin which does not press said denomination into the resilient surface.
- 5. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination as set forth in claim 4 including transitions between said ridges and recesses which function to guide coin movement and define wedge-shaped transitions between the recess in which the coins travel and the adjacent ridge, with said transitions reducing coin bounce within said recesses.
- 6. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination as set forth in claim 5 wherein said third area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc includes a first recess having a width approximately equal to the largest diameter coin denomination,
- whereby coin denominations of the largest diameter are urged by the inner edge of said first recess against the outerr edge of said first recess.
- 7. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination, said apparatus comprising:
- a rotating disc having a resilient surface for receiving said mixed denomination coins and importing a rotational movement to said mixed denomination coins,
- a stationary disc having ridges and recesses on its underside and being proximate to said resilient surface of said rotating disc,
- a first area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving the rotating mixed denomination coins into the region between the two discs,
- a second area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving coins from said first area and said recesses in said second area having regions for releasing coins from a pressed engagement with said resilient surface and thereby permitting radial movement of coins within said regions by centrifugal force, and said regions being shaped to guide coins in a single file along a predetermined path to predetermined radial positions on the rotating disc,
- a third area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving coins from said second area and effecting a pressed engagement with said rotating disc and with said recesses of said third area releasing coins in said third area from pressed engagement and being shaped to permit coins of different sizes to escape radially from between the two discs, by centrifugal force, at different preselected positions along the periphery of said stationary disc, and
- a first recess in said third area of ridges and recesses extending into said second area of ridges and recesses to provide a transition from said second area to said third area for the smallest denomination coin wherein said transition does not press said smallest denomination into the resilient surface.
- 8. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination, said apparatus comprising:
- a rotary disc having a resilient surface for receiving said mixed denomination coins and inparting a rotational movement to said mixed denomination coins,
- a stationary disc having ridges and recesses on its underside and being proximate to said resilient surface of said rotating disc,
- a first area of ridges and recessed on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving the rotating mixed denomination coins into the region between the two discs,
- a second area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving coins from said first area and said recesses in said second area having regions for releasing coins from a pressed engagement with said resilient surface and thereby permitting radial movement of coins within said regions by centrifugal force, and said regions being shaped to guide coins in a single file along a predetermined path to predetermined radial positions on the rotating disc,
- a third area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving coins from said second area and effecting a pressed engagement with said rotating disc and with said recesses of said third area releasing coins in said third area from pressed engagement and being shaped to permit coins of different sizes to escape radially from between the two discs, by centrifugal force, at different preselected positions along the periphery of said stationary disc, and
- circumferential transitions between said ridges and recesses having a gradient less than 90.degree. so as to create a wedge-shaped transition which reduces coin bounce within said recesses.
- 9. A coin sorter apparatus for receiving and sorting mixed coins by denomination, said apparatus comprising:
- a rotating disc having a resilient surface for receiving said mixed denomination coins and imparting a rotational movement to said mixed denomination coins,
- a stationary disc having ridges and recesses on its underside and being proximate to said resilient surface of said rotating disc,
- said stationary disc having a central opening for receiving on said resilient surface said mixed coins of which there are coins shingled or stacked upon other coins,
- a coin separator means adjacent said central opening comprising an elastomer surface substantially parallel with said resilient surface with said elastomer surface serving to retard movement on said resilient surface of said shingled or stacked coins such that the shingled or stacked coins are swept from the surface of the other coins,
- a first area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving the rotating mixed denomination coins into the region between the two discs from said central opening and said coin separator means,
- a second area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving coins from said first area and said recesses in said second area having regions for releasing coins from a pressed engagement with said resilient surface and thereby permitting radial movement of coins within said regions by centrifugal force, and said regions being shaped to guide coins in a single file along a predetermined path to predetermined radial positions on the rotating disc, and
- a third area of ridges and recesses on the underside of said stationary disc for receiving coins from said second area and effecting a pressed engagement with said rotating disc and with said recesses of said third area releasing coins in said third area from pressed engagement and being shaped to permit coins of different sizes to escape radially from between the two discs, by centrifugal force, at different preselected positions along the periphery of said stationary disc.
- 10. An apparatus for sorting coins of different denominations, said apparatus comprising;
- a rotatable member having a resilient surface,
- a stationary member having a surface that is substantially parallel to said resilient member and positioned sufficiently close to said resilient surface so that at least portions of the stationary surface press any coins in contact therewith and to the opposed resilient rotatable surface so that the resiliency of the rotatable surface urges the coins against the stationary surface with sufficient pressure to prevent radial movement of the coins by centrifugal force due to rotation of the rotatable member, while permitting circumferential movement of the coins by rotation of the rotatable member, and
- selected areas of the surface of said stationary member being recessed for releasing any coins entering any such recessed areas from the pressure of said resilient surface and thereby permitting radial movement of coins within the recessed areas by centrifugal force due to rotation of the rotatable member,
- said recessed areas being shaped to (1) unstack coins into a single layer distribution, and (2) guide coins in single file along a predetermined path and (3) permit coins of different sizes to escape radially by centrifugal force from between the members at different predetermined positions around the periphery of the stationary member.
- 11. A coin sorter for sorting different denominations of coins comprising:
- a rotatable member having a resilient surface;
- an annular stationary member having a surface substantially parallel with said resilient surface and positioned sufficiently close to said resilient surface so that a portion of the stationary surface presses coins in contact therewith into the opposed resilient rotatable surface so that the resiliency of the rotatable surface urges the coins against the stationary surface with sufficient pressure to prevent radial movement of coins by centrifugal force due to rotation of the rotatable member, while permitting circumferential movement of the coins by rotation of the rotatable member;
- a central opening in said annular stationary member for permitting said rotating member to receive coins of mixed denominations and said central opening defining an inner edge of said annular stationary member;
- selected areas of the surface of said stationary member being recessed for releasing any coins entering such recessed areas from the pressure of said resilient surface and thereby permitting radial movement of coins within the recessed areas by centrifugal force due to rotation of the rotatable member, said recessed areas being shaped to first guide coins outwardly in single file along a predetermined path, and second, to permit coins of different sizes to escape radially from between said surfaces by centrifugal force at different preselected positions along the periphery of said stationary member;
- a coin separating means comprising an arcuate shaped elastomer member located adjacent said inner edge of said stationary member and having a lower resilient surface in a plane generally parallel with the resilient surface of said rotatable member; whereby the top of two shingled coins, carried on the resilient pad, is engaged by and retarded in movement by said elastomer member to cause the lower of the shingled coins to be carried free of the top coin.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 503,530, filed June 13, 1983, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,531 which is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 207,963, filed Nov. 18, 1980 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,444,212, entitled "Coin Handling Machine" which is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 921,063, filed June 30, 1978, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,003 entitled "Coin Handling Machine" which, in turn, is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 735,060, filed Oct. 22, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,280, entitled "Coin Handling Machine".
US Referenced Citations (8)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
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2012863 |
Mar 1970 |
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Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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503530 |
Jun 1983 |
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Continuations (1)
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735060 |
Oct 1976 |
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Continuation in Parts (2)
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207963 |
Nov 1980 |
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921063 |
Jun 1978 |
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