Claims
- 1. A coin sorter for sorting coins in terms of their diameter comprising:
- a horizontally positioned circular coin carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed;
- a guide plate having a central circular opening and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate central recess within which coins are free to move radially, and said central recess generally extends outward from said central opening and having an outer edge which extends outward in a spiral, along which coins form in a single file;
- coin positioning means including a second recess, of lesser depth than said central recess, positioned to intercept coins rotated by said disc from said central recess, and said second recess having an outwardly extending, outwardly facing edge positioned to intercept an inner positioned edge of coins and urge said coins outward for radially positioning with their inner edge at a fixed diametric position;
- a plurality of coin ejection assemblies positioned circumferentially around said guide plate generally along a circular path traversed by coins rotated by said disc from said coin positioning means, and wherein each said coin ejection assembly comprises:
- an outwardly extending slot in said guide plate positioned to intercept said path, and
- depression means positioned outside of and generally parallel with each said slot, and wherein each said depression means comprises a ramp configured to engage an outer positioned edge region of one diametric size of coin and thereby pressing the outer edge of the coin downward, and wherein the inner edge of the coin is urged upward by said disc into a said slot, and whereby a combination of circular force applied to the coin and said slot causes the coin to be moved outward as captured by the slot and ejected; and
- wherein a depression means of each ejection assembly is positioned at a discrete spacing from a said slot, whereby with graduately smaller spacings for slot-ramp combinations as they appear around the disc in a direction of rotation, a large coin is ejected first, and smaller coins are ejected in an order of their diminishing size.
- 2. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 1 including radial capture means positioned to intercept coins moving between said central recess and said coin positioning means and including a gradually diminishing recess extending generally circular from said central recess, whereby coins transiting said gradually diminishing recess are pressed between said guide plate and said disc and rotated by said disc at a fixed radial position to said coin positioning means.
- 3. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 2 wherein said central recess includes a generally circular inner region and a spiral region extending outward from said inner region, and wherein coins fed through said opening initially are guided by said inner region and then move outward through said spiral-shaped region to said radial capture means, and wherein at least a portion of said spiral-shaped region is of a selected depth.
- 4. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 3 wherein said guide plate includes an anti-shingling guide extending outward from said central opening in a region of said spiral-shaped region, reducing the width of said spiral-shaped region, and said guide having a leading edge with a lower tapered surface whereby:
- two shingled coins, which together have a thickness of greater than said selected depth, are radially captured between said guide plate and said disc and are circularly rotated to and against said leading edge;
- a lower of the two shingled coins is rotated under said leading edge of said guide; and
- an upper of said shingled coins is radially freed and is thereby moved by said disc and centrifugal force outward within said spiral-shaped region of said second recess out to said coin positioning means.
- 5. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 4 including a third recess of lesser depth than said central recess and extending outward from a portion of said spiral-shaped region of said central recess, opposite to said guide, whereby coins of a diameter greater than a minimum width of said spiral-shaped region, occurring opposite to said guide, may cartwheel out into said third recess and pass around said guide as they are moved outward toward said radial capture means.
- 6. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 5 wherein said guide includes a second tapered edge region adjacent to a portion of said spiral-shaped region of said central recess which is between said second recess and said radial capture means, whereby the lower of any two shingled coins present is rotated under said second tapered edge, freeing the upper coin to move radially and circularly onto said radial capture means.
- 7. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 1 wherein said depression means comprises ramps generally positioned radially outside said disc.
- 8. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 1 further comprising counting means for selectively counting coins ejected along the path of each slot.
- 9. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 8 including an electrical motor coupled to apply a rotational force to said disc and braking means responsive to a count of a selected number of coins from said counting means for stopping said motor and thereby interrupting sorting when a selected number of coins of a selected denomination have been dispensed by the sorter.
- 10. A coin handling machine for separately dispensing coins of different diameters comprising:
- a horizontally positioned circular coin carrying disc having a top surface to which coins may be fed and having at least an annular area of said surface which is resilient;
- means for rotating said disc;
- guide means positioned over said disc and including a generally spiral-shaped recess having an outwardly facing guide surface for horizontally positioning coins in a single file on a disc with an inner edge of all coins, regardless of their diameters, located at a common radial position so that an outer edge of the coins traverse arcuate paths uniquely determined by the diameters of the coins; and
- ejection means adapted to engage an outer portion of the coins along said arcuate paths uniquely determined by the diameters of the coins for ejecting from said disc the coins of one diameter at one circumferential position and the coins of at least one other diameter at a second circumferential position.
- 11. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 10 wherein said ejection means comprises a plurality of coin ejection assemblies positioned over and around said disc, and wherein a coin ejection assembly comprises:
- an outwardly extending slot leading to the periphery of said disc and positioned to be above an inner edge region of a coin as it is rotated by said disc from said guide means; and
- depression means including one discrete coin depressor positioned outside of an generally parallel with each said slot, and wherein each said depressor is positioned and configured to engage an outer positioned edge region of one diametric size of coin, thereby depressing the outer edge of that coin downward, wherein the inner edge of that coin is urged upward by a resilient surface of said disc into a said slot, and whereby the combination of centrifugal force and said slot causes a coin to be moved outward and ejected.
- 12. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 11 wherein each said depressor is positioned at a discrete spacing from a said slot whereby with gradually smaller spacing for slot-depressor combinations as they appear around the disc in the direction of rotation, a large coin is ejected first and smaller coins are ejected on the order of their dimension size.
- 13. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 10 wherein said guide plate has a diameter larger than a diameter of said coin-carrying disc, and said ejection means are mounted on said guide plate beyond an outer edge of said disc.
- 14. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 11 wherein said guide plate has a diameter larger than a diameter of said coin-carrying disc, and said coin depressors are mounted on said guide plate beyond an outer edge of said disc.
- 15. A coin handling machine comprising:
- a horizontally positioned circular coin carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed; and
- a guide plate having a central circular opening and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate central recess within which coins are free to move radially outward, and said central recess generally extends outward from said central opening and having an outer edge which extends outward in a spiral,
- said guide plate forming a single-file composing recess having a first region with a radial dimension that passes only coin denominations having a first size, and a second region extending radially outwardly from said first region for passing coin denominations having a second size larger in diameter than said just size,
- said first and second regions having different depths so that said first-size coins are retained in said first region,
- the outer edges of said first and second regions converging with each other at downstream ends thereof so that the coins passed through said regions are located with their outer edges at a common radial position.
- 16. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 15 wherein an inner edge of said first region guides the coins radially outwardly as the coins are moved circumferentially through said first region.
- 17. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 15 wherein said guide plate forms a recess extending radially inwardly from the converged outer edges of said first and second regions and deep enough to allow coins of all denominations to move by centrifugal force against the outer edge thereof.
- 18. A coin handling machine comprising:
- a horizontally positioned circular coin carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed; and
- a guide plate having a central circular opening and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate central recess within which the coins are free to move radially outward, and said central recess generally extends outward from said central opening and having an outer edge which extends outward in a spiral,
- said guide plate forming a composing recess for receiving coins from said central recess and having an inner edge for guiding the coins radially outwardly as the coins are moved circumferentially through said composing recess, an upper portion of said inner edge being substantially perpendicular to the surface of said disk and a lower portion of said inner edge being tapered in a direction of said disk, so that engagement of said inner edge by a pair of overlapping coins causes the lower coin to be rotated across the tapered lower portion of said inner edge and recycled to said central recess, while the upper coin is guided along the perpendicular upper portion of said inner edge.
- 19. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 18 wherein said composing recess has a depth which is less than twice the thickness of the thinnest coin denominations.
- 20. A coin sorter for storing coins in terms of their diameter comprising:
- a horizontally positioned circular coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed;
- a guide plate having a central circular opening and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate central recess within which coins are free to move radially, and said central recess generally extends outward from said central opening and having an outer edge which extends outward in a spiral, along which coins form in a single-file,
- said guide plate forming a referencing recess for receiving the single-file coins and pressing them against the resilient top surface of said coin-carrying disk to inhibit radial movement of said coins as the disk advances the coins circumferentially through said referencing recess, one edge of said referencing recess having a referencing edge which overlies said resilient top surface and engages the edge of each of the advancing coins and positions said edge of each of the coins of all denominations at a common radial location, wherein the diametrically opposite edge of each coin is positioned at a radial location determined by the diameter of the coin; and
- coin ejection means positioned to engage the diametrically opposite edge portions of the coins that are positioned at radial locations determined by the diameter of the coin, for ejecting said coins of a selected diameter at a selected circumferential location on the guide plate.
- 21. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 20 wherein said referencing edge is formed by a recess of lesser depth than said central recess.
- 22. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 20 wherein said referencing edge positions the inner edges of all coins at said common radial location so that the outer edge of each coin is positioned at a radial location determined by the diameter of the coin.
- 23. A coin sorter for sorting coins in terms of their diameter comprising:
- a rotatably mounted coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed;
- a guide plate having a central circular opening and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate central recess within which coins are free to move radially, and said central recess generally extends outward from said central opening,
- said guide plate forming a referencing recess for receiving the coins from said central recess and pressing them against the resilient top surface of said coin-carrying disk so that the disk advances the coins circumferentially through said referencing recess, a radially inner edge of said referencing recess engaging radially inner edges of the coins of all denominations and moving said coins radially outwardly as the coins are advanced circumferentially through said recess so that the radially inner edges of the coins of all denominations are positioned at a common radial location, wherein radially outer edges of the coins are positioned at different radial locations determined by the denominations of the respective coins, and
- sorting means disposed around an outer periphery of said guide plate for sorting coins of different denominations according to said different radial locations of the radially outer edges of the coins of different denominations, said sorting means ejecting coins of a common denomination at a common circumferential location on the periphery of said guide plate.
- 24. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 23 wherein said central recess includes means for arranging said coins in a single file and a single layer before the coins exit said central recess.
- 25. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 23 wherein said sorting means includes a series of circumferentially spaced depressors for engaging and depressing the radially outer portions of coin denominations of successively decreasing diameter, and a series of circumferentially spaced recesses formed in said guide plate adjacent each depressor for receiving the radially inner portions of the coins whose radially outer portions are depressed and ejecting said coins from between said disc and said guide plate.
- 26. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 25 wherein each said circumferentially spaced recess comprises a slot leading to the periphery of said guide plate for guiding the respective coins to said periphery.
- 27. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 23 wherein:
- portions of said guide plate located radially outwardly from said central recess being located close enough to said resilient surface to continuously depress coins of all denominations into said resilient surface to inhibit radial movement of said coins, after leaving said central recess.
- 28. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 23 wherein said sorting means includes means for camming the coins outwardly until the inner edges of the coins are released from the pressure of said guide plate and resilient surface.
- 29. A coin handling machine comprising
- a rotatably mounted coin carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed, and
- a guide plate having a central circular opening and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate recess within which said coins are free to move radially outward, portions of said guide plate located radially outwardly from said central recess being located close enough to said resilient surface to depress coins of all denominations into said resilient surface to inhibit radial movement of said coins,
- said configured lower surface of said guide plate also forming reference means for engaging the inner edges of the coins of all denominations, after they have exited said central recess, and moving said coins radially outwardly, against the pressure of said guide plate and resilient surface, thereby positioning said coins at desired radial and circumferential locations between said guide plate and resilient surface.
- 30. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 29 which includes sorting means disposed around the outer periphery of said guide plate for sorting coins of different denominations by intercepting the coins of different denominations at spaced positions around the guide plate and removing the intercepted coins from between the guide plate and the resilient surface at said spaced positions.
- 31. A coin handling machine as set forth in claim 29 wherein said reference means is formed by a recessed area which forms an inner edge for engaging the inner edges of the coins depressed into said resilient surface and moving said coins radially outwardly.
- 32. A coin handling mechanism comprising
- a rotatably mounted coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed,
- means for rotating said disc, and
- a guide plate having a central opening to permit coins to pass therethrough and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate recess adjacent to said central opening and within which coins are free to move radially, said arcuate recess extending outwardly from said central opening and having an outer edge along which coins form in a single file,
- said guide plate forming a capturing surface which is close enough to said resilient surface to press coins of all denominations into said resilient surface to inhibit radial movement of said coins, said capturing surface intercepting the outer edge of said arcuate recess and extending inwardly therefrom, and
- referencing means for engaging the inner edge of each of the advancing coins and positioning the engaged edges of said coins at a common radial location which is close enough to the outer periphery of at least a portion of said guide plate that a radially outer portion of each coin extends beyond said outer periphery while a radially inner portion of each coin remains gripped between said guide plate and said resilient surface, the radial positions of the outer edges of said coins being determined by the respective diameters of said coins.
- 33. A coin sorter for sorting coins in terms of their diameter comprising
- a rotatably mounted coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed,
- a guide plate having a central opening to permit coins to pass therethrough and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate recess within which coins are free to move radially, said arcuate recess extending outwardly from said central opening and having an outer edge along which coins form in a single file,
- said guide plate forming a capturing surface which is close enough to said resilient surface to inhibit radial movement of said coins, said capturing surface intercepting the outer edge of said arcuate recess and extending inwardly thereform,
- said capturing surface forming a referencing recess having a referencing edge for engaging the edge of each of the advancing coins engaged by said capturing surface and positioning said coin edges at a common radial location for coins of all denominations, whereby the diametrically opposite edge of each coin is positioned at a radial location determined by the diameter of the coin,
- said capturing surface also forming a plurality of exit recesses for guiding coins of different denominations outwardly to different circumferential locations around the periphery of said guide plate while continuing to press said coins into said resilient surface so that exiting coins are gripped between said guide plate and said resilient surface, regardless of where the coins are located along said exit recesses,
- counting means for counting the number of ejected coins of each denomination, and
- braking means for quickly stopping the rotation of said disc in response to a preselected count by said counting means.
- 34. A coin sorter for sorting coins in terms of their diameter comprising
- a rotatably mounted coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed,
- a guide plate having a central opening to permit coins to pass therethrough and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate recess within which coins are free to move radially, said arcuate recess extending outwardly from said central opening and having an outer edge along which coins form in a single file,
- said guide plate forming a capturing surface which is close enough to said resilient surface to depress coins of all denominations into said resilient surface to inhibit radial movement of said coins, said capturing surface intercepting the outer edge of said arcuate recess and extending inwardly therefrom,
- a referencing recess formed in said capturing surface, one edge of said referencing recess positioning one edge of each of the advancing coins of each denomination at a predetermined radial location so that the diametrically opposite edge of each coin is positioned at a corresponding radial location determined by the diameter of the coin, the surface of said referencing recess being close enough to said resilient surface to press coins of all denominations into said resilient surface while the edges of said coins are being positioned at said predetermined radial locations,
- sorting means disposed around the outer periphery of said guide plate for sorting coins of different denominations according to said different radial locations of the radially outer edges of coins of different denominations, said sorting means ejecting coins of a common denomination at a common circumferential location on the periphery of said guide plate while continuously pressing said coins into said resilient surface,
- counting means for counting the number of ejected coins of each denomination, and
- braking means for quickly stopping the rotation of said disc in response to a preselected count by said counting means.
- 35. A coin sorter for sorting coins in terms of their diameter comprising:
- a horizontally positioned circular coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed; and
- a guide plate having a central circular opening to permit coins to pass therethrough and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate recess within which coins are free to move radially, and said arcuate recess extends outwardly from said central opening and has an outer edge along which coins form in a single file,
- said guide plate also forming a plurality of exit recess for guiding coins of different denominations outwardly to different circumferential locations around the periphery of said guide plate while continuously pressing said coins into said resilient surface so that exiting coins are gripped between said guide plate and said resilient surface, regardless of where the coins are located along said exit recesses.
- 36. A coin sorter for sorting coins in terms of their diameter comprising
- a rotatably mounted coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed,
- means for rotating said disc,
- a guide plate having a central opening to permit coins to pass therethrough and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate recess within which coins are free to move radially, said arcuate recess extending outwardly from said central opening and having an outer edge along which coins form in a single file,
- said guide plate forming a capturing surface which is close enough to said resilient surface to press coins of all denominations into said resilient surface to inhibit radial movement of said coins, said capturing surface intercepting the outer edge of said arcuate recess and extending inwardly thereform for receiving and capturing coins from said arcuate recess,
- referencing means associated with said capturing surface for engaging one edge of each of the advancing coins of each denomination and radially moving each engaged coin to a predetermined radial location while said coins are pressed into said resilient surface, and
- multiple sorting means for sorting coins of different denominations according to the radial locations of the edges of said coins and discharging coins of different denominations at different circumferential locations around the periphery of said guide plate.
- 37. A coin sorter for sorting coins in terms of their diameter comprising
- a rotatably mounted coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed,
- means for rotating said disc,
- a guide plate having a central opening to permit coins to pass therethrough and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate recess adjacent to said central opening and within which coins are free to move radially, said arcuate recess extending outwardly from said central opening having an outer edge along which coins form in a single file,
- said guide plate forming a capturing surface which is close enough to said resilient surface to press coins of all denominations into said resilient surface to inhibit radial movement of said coins, said capturing surface intercepting the outer edge of said arcuate recess and extending inwardly thereform for receiving and capturing coins from said arcuate recess,
- referencing means for engaging at least certain of the advancing coins pressed into said resilient surface by said capturing surface and radially moving the engaged coin edge to a predetermined radial location, while the engaged coins continue to be pressed into said resilient surface by said guide plate, so that the diametrically opposite edge of the engaged coins are positioned at a corresponding radial location determined by the diameter of the coin, and
- multiple sorting means for sorting coins of different denominations according to the radial locations of the edges of said coins and discharging coins of different denominations at different circumferential locations around the periphery of said guide plate.
- 38. A coin sorter for sorting coins in terms of their diameter comprising
- a rotatably mounted coin-carrying disc having a resilient top surface onto which coins may be fed,
- means for rotating said disc,
- a guide plate having a central opening to permit coins to pass therethrough and a configured lower surface positioned over and closely adjacent to said disc, and wherein said configured surface includes an arcuate recess adjacent to said central opening and within which coins are free to move radially, said arcuate recess extending outwardly from said central opening and having an outer edge along which coins form in a single file,
- said guide plate forming a capturing surface which is close enough to said resilient surface to press coins of all denominations into said resilient surface to inhibit radial movement of said coins, said capturing surface intercepting the outer edge of said arcuate recess and extending inwardly thereform for receiving and capturing coins from said arcuate recess,
- a referencing recess formed in said capturing surface and forming an arcuate edge which engages the inner edge of each of the advancing coins of each denomination and positions the engaged coin edges at predetermined radial locations so that the outer edge of each coin is positioned at a corresponding radial location determined by the diameter of the coin, and
- multiple sorting means receiving coins positioned by said referencing means and sorting coins of different denominations according to the radial locations of said outer edges, said sorting means ejecting coins of a common denomination at a common circumferential location on the periphery of said guide plate.
- 39. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 38 wherein said sorting means ejects coins of a maximum diameter first and then coins of progressively smaller diameters.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 872,629, filed on June 9, 1986, now abandoned which in turn is a continuation of application Ser. No. 561,722, filed on Dec. 14, 1983 and now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1137884 |
Oct 1962 |
DEX |
2515837 |
Oct 1975 |
DEX |
2296361 |
Aug 1976 |
FRX |
Continuations (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
872629 |
Jun 1986 |
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Parent |
561722 |
Dec 1983 |
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