GB2030101A - Coin packaging machine - Google Patents

Abstract

In a coin packaging machine having a detector which can sense misalignment of coins stacked in a cylinder, a control arrangement is provided which temporarily inhibits the packaging operation upon detection of misaligned coins but which automatically restarts the packaging operation if the misalignment is corrected, e.g. by vibration, before the elapse of a predetermined time. A cam shaft which controls the packing operation of the machine is caused to turn in reverse if misalignment is detected. The detector continues to sense for misalignment and if misalignment is eliminated during the rotation of the shaft in reverse, the cam shaft is caused to return to forward rotation to continue the packing operation, and if the misalignment is not eliminated, and the cam shaft has reached a certain predetermined position packing operations of the machine are ceased.

Description

SPECIFICATION Coin packaging machine The present invention relates to a coin packaging machine and particularly to a coin packaging machine including means for treating coins which have accumulated in a pile out of alignment.

In commonplace coin packing machines, when a predetermined number of coins continuously supplied into a cartridge were accumulated in the form of a rod, the accumulate of the coins was delivered into a packing mechanism where the accumulate of coins was automatically packed. The coins often fell in an irregular manner and accumulated in the cartridge, whereby the coins tilted as shown in Fig. 2 were frequently stacked out of alignment.

With known machines, when the nonalignment of the coins was not corrected even after a predetermined moment of time has passed, a detector detected the presence of non-alignment, and the detected signal caused a cam-driving shaft for driving a packing mechanism which was already starting the rotation to be actuated in a reverse direction until the initial position was reached thereby to halt the operation of the machine. That is, once a non-alignment signal was produced at a predetermined moment of time, the machine was caused to come into halt even when the non-alignment of coins was corrected during the turn of the cam-driving shaft in the reverse direction.

The present invention provides a coin packaging machine in which a predetermined number of coins accumulates in a pile in a cylinder, the machine is provided with a detector which can sense misalignment of the coins in the cylinder and is so arranged that if misalignment is detected the packaging operation of the machine is temporarily inhibited, but is automatically restarted if the misalignment of the coins is corrected before a predetermined time has elapsed.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view showing a portion of a coin packing machine; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion of cartridge; Figure 3 is a plan view showing an upper portion of cartridge; Figure 4 is a plan view showing a portion of Fig. 1; Figure 5 is a block diagram of a portion of a packing driving portion; Figure 6 is a circuit diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 7 is a diagram for comparison.

A counter 3' is provided at a rear side path 3 for sorting coins 2, on which upper side is disposed a conveyor belt 1. A cylindrical cartridge 4 is provided in a vertical manner at the rear and lower side of the sorting path 3.

A photoelectric detector A consisting of a light projector 6 and a light receiver 7 is provided to correspond to a through hole 5 formed in a lateral direction at an upper portion of the cartridge 4, and on the lower portion of the cartridge 4 is provided a shutter 8 consisting of two plates that are designed to open in two directions.

Underneath the shutter 8 is installed a packing portion B. The packing portion B has a coin receiver 9 which is located beneath the shutter 8 and which is allowed to move in the upper and lower directions along a guide shaft 10. Three packing rollers 11, 11' and 11" are studded at three equally divided positions around the coin receiver 9, allowed to move by means of a lower link and rotated by means of a gear train G. The three packing rollers 11, 11' and 11" are pressed onto the accumulate of coins 2 falling through space defined by them. A packing paper is wound on the coins while they are being rotated, and caulking pawls 1 2 caulk both ends of the packing paper from the upper and lower directions to make a packing, as done conventionally.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing a portion of a driving unit of the packing portion B, in which reference numeral 1 3 represents a cam which rotates once and stops, 1 4 a cam for opening the shutter 8 under normal condition, 1 5 a cam for detecting the non-alignment, reference numerals 13', 14' and 15' denote microswitches, 1 6 a counter circuit, 1 7 an electromagnetic clutch, 1 8 a non-alignment detector circuit, 1 9 a control circuit, and symbol M represents a packing motor.

Fig. 6 is a circuit diagram showing an important portion of the present invention, in which symbol R, denotes a relay for detecting non-alignment, R2 a relay for keeping the nonalignment, S a non-alignment detector switch that will be actuated by the non-alignment detector cam 15, R1, a contact of the nonalignment detector relay R,, and symbols R2, and R2 2 denote contacts of the relay R2 for keeping the non-alignment.

When a power supply is turned on, and. a start button is pushed, the packing motor M and a counter motor start to operate in the forward direction. As the coins 2 counted by the counter 3' and falling on the cartridge 4 are accumulated properly to a predetermined number, the counter circuit 1 6 produces a count completion signal which is fed to the electromagnetic clutch 1 7 which mechanically connects the packing motor M.to the shafts of each of the abovesaid cams, so that the cams 13, 14 and 1 5 are caused to rotate.

Therefore, the packing motor M rotates in the forward direction, and the shutter 8 is opened responsive to the timing of the cam 14. The coins 2 in the cartridge 4 are allowed to fall on the coin receiver 9 which is moved upwardly as indicated by imaginary lines in Fig. 1. The rollers 11, 11' and 11" then work to wind the packing paper on the accumulate of coins 2 lowered accompanying the lowering motion of the coin receiver 9, and the upper and lower portions thereof are caulked by means of the caulking pawls 1 2 in the same manner as done conventionally.

Here, if an electric current is caused to flow into a clutch which transmits the power of the packing motor M to the packing cam, thereby causing the packing cam to move to be ready to detect the non-alignment like the conventional system, the microswitch S for detecting the non-alignment is actuated. In this case, if the coins are out of alignment as shown in Fig. 2, the light from the light projector 6 of the detector A is interrupted by the coins 2 and does not reach the light receiver 7. The circuit 18 for detecting the non-alignment is then actuated to flow the electric current to the relay R1 for detecting the non-alignment.

The electric current then flows through the switch S for detecting the non-alignment, and the contact R1, of the relay R1 for detecting the non-alignment, and flows into the relay R2 for keeping the non-alignment, whereby the non-aligned state is maintained by the contact R2 1 of the relay R2 for keeping the nonalignment even after the signal of the switch S for detecting the non-alignment has been extinguished during the period of rotation in the reverse direction.

As the electric current flows into the relay R2 for keeping the non-alignment, the packing motor M is rotated in the reverse direction due to the contact R2 2 of the relay R2 for keeping the non-alignment, whereby the packing cam is rotated in the reverse direction.

While the packing cam is rotating in the reverse direction, a conventionally employed vibrator which is not shown here gives vibration so that the non-alignment shown in Fig.

2 is extinguished. Therefore, no electric current flows into the relay R1 for detecting the non-alignment. The contact R1, of the relay R1 for detecting the non-alignment is separated, the relay R2 for keeping the nonalignment is released, and the self-retaining function of the relay R2 is released. Accordingly, the packing motor M is allowed to rotate in the forward direction due to the contact R2 2 of the relay R2 for keeping the non-alignment, the coins 2 are packed as mentioned in the foregoing, the packing cam is turned once, and the accumulate of coins 2 is packed by the packing paper in the form of a cylinder.

A conventional art and the present ihvention are illustrated below with reference to the diagram of comparison shown in Fig. 7. Under the condition in which the cam 1 3 which rotates once and stops and the cam 1 5 for detecting the non-alignment are rotating in the forward direction as indicated by arrow and in which the microswitches 13' and 15' make the circuit, the cam shaft according to the conventional art was started to turn from the point (b) by means of the electromagnetic clutch as shown by (X) and was caused to rotate in the reverse direction from the point (d) at which the non-alignment was detected.

The rotation in the reverse direction was continued even after the point (e) at which the non-alignment was eliminated was reached; the cam shaft was returned to the position (c) at which the cam completed one turn of rotation and stopped, thereby to stop the operation of the machine. According to the present invention, on the other hand, the cam shaft is caused to return at the point (d) until the point (e) is reached, and where the cam shaft is caused to turn in the forward direction again to resume the packing operation as shown by (Y).

In this way, according to the present invention, the non-alignment of coins is detected even when the packing cam is rotated in the reverse direction, in order to minimize the need of stopping the packing machine that will be caused by the non-aligned coins and, eventually, to perform the operation of packing the coins efficiently.

Claims (4)

1. A coin packaging machine in which a predetermined number of coins accumulates in a pile in a cylinder, the machine is provided with a detector which can sense misalignment of the coins in the cylinder and is so arranged that if misalignment is detected the packaging operation of the machine is temporarily inhibited, but is automatically restarted if the misalignment of the coins is corrected before a predetermined time has elapsed.

2. A machine according to claim 1 which includes a cam shaft and cams which control the packing operation of the machine, the operating direction of rotation of the cam shaft is reversed if misalignment is detected and put into forward rotation when misalignment is corrected, and the machine is so arranged that if during reverse rotation the cam shaft reaches a predetermined position the packaging operation of the machine is stopped.

3. A machine according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the pile of coins is vibrated when misalignment is detected.

4. A coin handling machine substantially as herebefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.