Abstract:
A device for dispensing coins comprising a plurality of hoppers arranged adjacent a sloped coin ramp. The hoppers are located to eject coins from the hopper onto the coin ramp. At least one hopper is mounted on a hopper shim such that the hoppers are installed at a plurality of heights. The hoppers further arranged in at least two rows with the coin ramp disposed therebetween and at least one hopper including a hopper bin that is of extended height with respect to another hopper bin.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/804,219, filed Jun. 8, 2006, entitled COIN DISPENSER which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to coin dispensers. More specifically, the invention relates to a coin dispenser having a plurality of bulk-loaded coin bins. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    In the past, coin hoppers have been used for numerous applications. For example, coin dispensers are frequently used in vending machines and are necessary because vending machine sales are made without a human cashier to make change. Providing a coin dispenser eliminates the requirement that a person have exact change in order to make a purchase from the vending machine. Coin dispensers can comprise a plurality of stacked tubes with each tube having a different denomination of coin. A vending machine calculates the required change by determining the amount of money inserted by the customer and subtracting the product price. The vending machine can then activate payout from coin tubes containing known coin denominations. 
         [0004]    More recently, department stores and grocery stores have moved toward replacing human cashiers with self-checkout kiosks where a customer can tally the cost for items the customer wishes to buy for himself. Typically, the customer does this by moving the Universal Product Code bar codes over a laser scanner, which reads the codes. The customer is then presented with several methods to pay for the items, including cash. Typically, the kiosk will accept both paper currency and coins as payment. However, because the customer may not have exact change to make the purchase, the kiosk must be able to pay out change in at least coins, or perhaps paper currency as well, to provide change to the customer. However, due to the large quantity of change that must be paid out compared to product vending machines and the greater number of customers typically served, prior art coin dispensers lack a sufficient quantity of stored coins and/or the payout speed required of this higher volume application. 
         [0005]    As a result, there is a need in the art for a coin dispenser that can hold a greater quantity of coins for payout in multiple denominations and pay out the required change at a high rate. However, in such self-checkout kiosks only a limited amount of space is dedicated for use by a coin dispenser to accomplish this goal. Therefore, the coin dispenser is preferable small and fits within the allowable footprint. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a six hopper coin dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0007]      FIG. 2  is a four hopper coin dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0008]    While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to the embodiments illustrated. 
         [0009]    The preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a coin dispenser for a self-checkout kiosk that can payout coins more quickly than prior art coin dispensers and can hold a greater quantity of coins that are of multiple denominations in reserve. To that end and referring to  FIG. 1 , a first embodiment  10  of the invention is shown. The first embodiment  10  comprises six hoppers  12 ,  14 ,  16 ,  18 ,  20  and  22  for holding up to six different denominations of coins. The hoppers  12 - 22  comprise bulk-loaded coin hoppers each having their own confined payout mechanism according to known payout mechanisms for bulk-loaded coin hoppers. While bulk-loaded coin hoppers are the preferred hoppers, the term coin hopper as used herein also includes stacked or otherwise arranged coin hoppers as well. The hoppers  12 - 22  are aligned in a first row  26  of coin hoppers  12 - 16  and a second row  28  of coin hoppers  18 - 22 . Disposed between the first row  26  and the second row  28  of coin hoppers  12 - 22  is a payout ramp  30  that slopes from a high point that is adjacent hoppers  12  and  18  to a mid point that is adjacent hoppers  14  and  20  and reaches a low point that is adjacent hoppers  16  and  22 . 
         [0010]    Preferably, the payout ramp  30  has a width of greater than twice the width of the widest coin to be paid out to prevent jamming of the coins as the coins are paid out simultaneously from each hopper  12 - 22 , which is the preferred method of payout. Each hopper  12 - 22  comprises a coin outlet  24  which is located above the payout ramp  30  such that when each bulk-loaded coin hopper  12 - 22  pays out coins through its coin outlet  24  the coin is delivered to the top surface of the payout ramp  30 . 
         [0011]    Additionally, coins that are ejected through the coin outlet  24  generally strike the opposing coin hopper. As a result, a hardened coin ejection plate  46  is added to each hopper at a location opposite the opposite hopper&#39;s coin outlet. The coin ejection plate  46  is preferably made from a durable polymeric material. 
         [0012]    As a result of the necessity for each hopper to deliver coins to the payout ramp  30 , the coin hoppers  12  and  18  need to be located higher than the other coin hoppers  14 - 16  and  20 - 22  as a result of their location at the highest part of the payout ramp  30 . Likewise, the coin hoppers  14  and  20  need not be located as high as the coin hoppers  12  and  18  but must be higher than the coin hoppers  16  and  22 . To that end, the coin hoppers  12 - 22  are all mounted on a hopper base  32 . However, only hoppers  16  and  22  are mounted directly to the hopper base  32 . Hoppers  14  and  20  utilize a first hopper shim  34  placed between the hoppers  14  and  20 . The first hopper shim  34  is of only such height as may be required to raise the coin hoppers  14  and  20  to a height sufficient to elevate the coin outlets  24  of the coin hoppers  14  and  20  so that they are not below the payout ramp  30 . Likewise, a second hopper shim  36  must be placed between the hopper base  32  and the hoppers  12  and  18  to elevate said hoppers  12  and  18  such that their coin outlets  24  are not below the payout ramp  30 . 
         [0013]    Because the hoppers  16  and  22  are mounted lower than the hoppers  12  and  14  and hoppers  18  and  20 , first hopper extensions  38  are attached to the hoppers  16  and  22  to bring the top of the hoppers  16  and  22  to the same height as hoppers  12  and  18 . While hopper height extensions are the preferred embodiment of the present invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that rather than adding hopper extension, a hopper could be molded in single piece having an extended height and such a modification is within the scope of the present invention. This increases the capacity of the hoppers  16  and  22 . In a similar manner, second hopper extensions  40  are attached to hoppers  14  and  20  to cause the top of the hoppers  14  and  20  to be of the same height as the top of the hoppers  12  and  18 . As such, the capacity of hoppers  14  and  20  is increased above that of the unextended hoppers  12  and  18  but not as much as extended hoppers  16  and  22 . 
         [0014]    Finally, a coin blocking plate  42  is placed in a vertical orientation against the payout ramp  30  and against the hoppers  12  and  18  to prevent coins from falling off the top edge of the coin payout ramp  30  and not sliding down the payout ramp  30  as desired. 
         [0015]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a second embodiment  100  of the invention is disclosed. The second embodiment  100  comprises four hoppers  102 ,  104 ,  106  and  108  arranged in a first row  112  and a second row  114 . Each hopper  102 - 108  has a coin outlet  110  that will dispense coins onto a payout ramp  116  as with the first embodiment  10 . The hopper  104  is mounted directly to a hopper base  118  and hopper  108  is mounted to a first hopper shim  120  placed upon the hopper base  118 . The hoppers  104  and  108  comprise hoppers that cover twice the area of the hopper base  118  as the hoppers  12 - 22  or the hoppers  102  and  106 . The hoppers  102  and  106  are mounted upon a second, taller hopper shim  122 . The hopper  104  further comprises a first hopper extension  124 , which increases the height of hopper  104  to the height of hopper  102  and increases the coin capacity of hopper  104 . The hopper  108  further comprises a second hopper extension  126 , which increases the height of hopper  108  to the height of hopper  106  and increases the coin capacity of hopper  108 , as in the first embodiment. Additionally, coins that are ejected through the coin outlet  110  generally strike the opposing coin hopper. As a result, a hardened coin ejection plate  128  is added to each hopper at a location opposite the opposing hopper&#39;s coin outlet. In the second embodiment, the coin hoppers can be used to dispense, at most, four different denominations of coins simultaneously. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that any number of coin hoppers can be used without departing from the scope of the present invention 
         [0016]    The software controlling the operation of each coin hopper preferably monitors the level of each hopper and tries to maintain satisfactory levels of each coin denomination so that, for example, a hopper containing nickels is not depleted before a hopper containing quarters and vice versa. As a result a customer may receive five nickels, or two dimes and a nickel, for change rather than a quarter if the supply of quarters is depleting too rapidly. In the alternative, if a hopper containing dimes is depleting too rapidly, change will be given in denominations that avoids the usage of dimes. 
         [0017]    The above examples show that the invention, as defined by the claims, has far ranging application and should not be limited merely to the embodiments shown and described in detail. Instead the invention should be limited only to the explicit words of the claims, and the claims should not be arbitrarily limited to embodiments shown in the specification. The scope of protection is only limited by the scope of the accompanying claims, and the Examiner should examine the claims on that basis.