Abstract:
A coin discharge device has a removable coin tube cassette and an empty sensor  5  for accurately detecting the presence of coins within the coin tubes. A sensor mounting  30  is designed to withdraw the sensor  5  from the cassette accommodation part  22  when the coin tube cassette is removed from the device. However, when the coin tube device is inserted into the cassette accommodation part  22 , the sensor mounting  30  moves the sensor  5  into the accommodation part  22  so that it abuts one side of the coin tube cassette to sense coins therein.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to improvement of a coin discharge device for discharging coins according to the amount of change from a cassette type coin tube to be mounted so as to freely mount and demount. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Generally in a device such as a vending machine, a coin processing device for ascertaining the truth of input coins and discharging coins according to the amount of change is mounted. 
     This coin processing device broadly comprises: 
     (1) a coin sorting device for ascertaining the truth and falsity of input coins, returning false coins, discriminating the kind of true coins, and separating and sorting them and 
     (2) a coin discharge device for accommodating true coins separated and sorted by the coin sorting device for each coin kind and discharging coins according to the amount of change. 
     Among them, the coin discharge device comprises a cassette type coin tube for loading and accommodating specific coins which is mounted so as to freely mount and demount and a coin discharge unit for discharging coins from the lowest surface of the coin tube. 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of essential section breakage concept showing a conventional coin discharge device  1 . The coin discharge device  1 , unlike a coin discharge device for so-called discharging a plurality of coin kinds for sorting and accommodating a plurality of kinds of coins and selecting and discharging the coin kind according to the amount of change among them, is a coin discharge device for accommodating and discharging only coins of particularly high use frequency and this type of coin discharge device  1  is generally arranged contiguously to the aforementioned coin discharge device for discharging a plurality of coin kinds in the coin processing device. 
     The coin discharge device  1  comprises a device body  3  consisting of a frame in which a cassette accommodation concave part  2  for accommodating one cassette type coin tube for accommodating only specific coins of high use frequency which will be described later is formed so as to freely mount and demount and a coin discharge means  4  arranged at the lower part of the device body  3 . 
     For a concrete structure of the coin discharge means  4 , it is recommended to refer to Japanese Utility Model Patent 60-44160 proposed by this applicant previously. 
     In the coin discharge device  1 , an empty sensor  5  for detecting the existence of coins accommodated in the cassette type coin tube which will be described later is arranged under a back  2   a  of the cassette accommodation concave part  2 . The empty sensor  5  comprises a coil wound in a circle to which a predetermined high frequency signal is applied and detects the existence of coins as a change in the impedance of the coil. The empty sensor  5  is covered with synthetic resin such as rubber so that the coil will not be damaged so much by an external shock. The empty sensor  5  is mounted via a spring  6  in a sensor accommodation concave part  2   b  formed on the back  2   a  of the cassette accommodation concave part  2  so that a tip  5   a  thereof freely comes in and out from the cassette accommodation concave part  2 . 
     The cassette type coin tube is mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part  2  of the coin discharge device  1 , as shown in FIG. 10, by fitting and inserting a lower end  10   a  of one cassette tube  10  under the cassette accommodation concave part  2 , rotating a tip  10   b  in the direction of the arrow F, that is, counterclockwise on the drawing using it as a fulcrum, and joining the tip  10   b  of the coin tube  10  to a joining pawl  11   a  of a latch means  11  formed on the top of the device body  3  as shown in FIG.  11 . 
     In this case, the tip  5   a  of the empty sensor  5  is closely adhered to the lower part of a back  10   c  of the coin tube  10  by the force of the spring  6 . 
     Numeral  13  shown in FIGS. 9 to  11  indicates a control board for the empty sensor  5  mounted on the back of the device body  3 . 
     Meanwhile, in the aforementioned conventional coin discharge device  1 , the empty sensor  5  detects the existence of remaining coins accommodated in the coin tube  10 , so that it is often arranged at the corresponding part of the lower part of the coin tube  10 , and in this case, when the lower end  10   a  of the coin tube  10  is to be mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part  2  as shown in FIG. 10, it is apt to collide with the back  10   c  of the coin tube  10 , and when it is repeated, the empty sensor  5  itself is damaged and hence cannot detect the existence of remaining coins, and there is a risk that the stable coin discharge function of the coin discharge device  1  cannot be maintained. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above situation, the present invention is intended to provide a coin discharge device for stably detecting the existence of remaining coins accommodated in a cassette type coin tube. 
     To solve the aforementioned problems, the present invention provides a coin discharge device including at least a device body having a cassette accommodation concave part to which a cassette type coin tube is mounted so as to freely mount and demount and an empty sensor which is arranged on one side of the cassette accommodation concave part and detects the existence of remaining coins accommodated in the cassette type coin tube, wherein the empty sensor is always withdrawn from the cassette accommodation concave part and arranged in a sensor mounting means for projecting it into the cassette accommodation concave part when the cassette type coin tube is mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part and closely adhering it to one side of the cassette type coin tube. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a conceptual front view of a coin discharge device relating to the present invention, 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of breakage concept of the essential section AA shown in FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of essential section breakage concept showing the operation of a coin discharge device relating to the present invention, 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of essential section breakage concept showing the operation of a coin discharge device relating to the present invention, 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of essential section concept showing another embodiment of a coin discharge device relating to the present invention, 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of essential section breakage of a coin discharge device showing a sliding means, 
     FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of essential section breakage concept of a coin discharge device showing the operation of another embodiment, 
     FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view of essential section breakage concept of a coin discharge device showing the operation of another embodiment, 
     FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of essential section breakage concept of a conventional coin discharge device, 
     FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of essential section breakage concept showing the operation of a conventional coin discharge device, and 
     FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of essential section breakage concept showing the operation of a conventional coin discharge device. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     An embodiment of a coin discharge device relating to the present invention will be described hereunder in detail. 
     FIG. 1 is a front view of a coin discharge device  20  relating to the present invention and the same numeral is assigned to each of the same parts as those shown in FIGS. 9 to  11 . 
     On the front of a device body  21  which is a frame of the coin discharge device  20 , a cassette accommodation concave part  22  for mounting the cassette type coin tube  10  so as to freely mount and demount is formed and at the lower part of a back  22   a  of the cassette accommodation concave part  22 , the empty sensor  5  is mounted via a sensor mounting means  30 . At the lower part of the device body  21 , the coin discharge means  4  is arranged in the same way as with a conventional one. 
     The sensor mounting means  30 , as shown in the cross sectional view of breakage concept of the essential section AA shown in FIG. 1, which is shown in FIG. 2, comprises an almost L-shaped lever  32  supported at the lower part of the device body  21  so as to freely rotate round a shaft  31 . 
     Both ends of the shaft  31  are supported at the bearing parts formed at predetermined positions of the device body  21  so as to freely rotate. 
     The lever  32  is made of comparatively rigid synthetic resin covering the empty sensor  5 , and at a lower end  32   a  thereof, the empty sensor  5  is arranged, and an upper end  32   b  is bent, and a central part  32   c  thereof is formed so as to project through a hole  22   b  formed in the back  22   a  of the cassette accommodation concave part  22  into the cassette accommodation concave  22 . 
     On the back of the central part  32   c  of the bent upper end  32   b  of the lever  32 , a pin  32   d  is projected and between the pin  32   d  and a pin  21   a  projected on the inner peripheral surface of the device body  21  at the opposite position, a spring  33  for always forcing the bent central part  32   c  of the lever  32  clockwise round the shaft  31  is arranged. 
     As a result, the bent central part  32   c  of the lever  32  is always (that is, when the cassette type coin tube  10  is not mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part  22 ) projected in the cassette accommodation concave part  22  from the hole  22   b  formed in the back  22   a  of the cassette accommodation concave part  22 , and the lower end  32   a  of the lever  32  where the empty sensor  5  is arranged rotates at a predetermined angle clockwise round the shaft  31 , and by doing this, the lower end  32   a  is positioned at the place where it is withdrawn from the cassette accommodation concave part  22 . 
     Next, the operation of the sensor mounting means  30  will be explained. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, when the cassette type coin tube  10  is not mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part  22 , by the force of the spring  33 , the bent central part  32   c  of the lever  32  is always projected in the cassette accommodation concave part  22  through the hole  22   b  formed in the back  22   a  of the cassette accommodation concave part  22  and the lower end  32   a  of the lever  32  where the empty sensor  5  is arranged is positioned in the place where it is withdrawn from the cassette accommodation concave part  22 . 
     Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the lower end  10   a  of one cassette tube  10  is fit and inserted into the lower part of the cassette accommodation concave part  22 . 
     In this case, since the empty sensor  5  is positioned in the place where it is withdrawn from the cassette accommodation concave part  22  by rotation of the lever  32 , it will not collide with the back  10   c  of the coin tube  10  and hence the risk that the empty sensor  5  itself may be damaged is reduced as much as possible. 
     Thereafter, when the upper end  10   b  of the cassette tube  10  is rotated in the direction of the arrow F, that is, counterclockwise on the drawing, as shown in FIG. 4, firstly the bent central part  32   c  of the lever  32  colliding with the back  10   c  of the coin tube  10  comes in contact with it and the lever  32  is rotated in the direction of the arrow G, that is, counterclockwise by the force round the shaft  31 . 
     Then, the empty sensor  5  positioned at the lower end  32   a  of the lever  32  rotates counterclockwise round the shaft  31 , closely adheres to a predetermined position of the back  10   c  of the coin tube  10  surely, and positioned and arranged in the place. 
     Therefore, in the aforementioned coin discharge device  20 , when the coin tube  10  is mounted, the coin tube  10  does not collide with the empty sensor  5 , so that the damage of the empty sensor  5  can be reduced as much as possible. 
     In the aforementioned embodiment, the lever  32  where the empty sensor  5  is arranged is supported just so as to freely rotate round the shaft  31 . However, when an error occurs in the forming position of a bearing part, not shown in the drawing, formed in the device body  21  which supports the shaft  31  so as to freely rotate and when the coin tube  10  is mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part  22 , there is a risk that the following problem is caused. 
     Namely, when an error occurs in the forming position of the bearing part for supporting the shaft  31  so as to freely rotate and when the coin tube  10  is mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part  22 , the central part  32   c  of the lever  32  and the empty sensor  5  come in contact with the back  10   c  of the coin tube  10  by strong force and hence a strong load is applied to the shaft  31  and there is a risk that it may be broken. 
     Accordingly, to eliminate such risks, like the coin discharge device  20  of another embodiment shown in FIG. 5, in which the same numeral is assigned to each of the same parts as those shown in FIG. 2, the shaft  31  supporting the lever  32  so as to freely rotate may be supported via a sliding means  40  so as to freely slide toward the arrangement side (the cassette accommodation concave part  22  side) of the coin tube. FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of essential section breakage of the device body  21  showing the sliding means  40  in detail. 
     In a concave part  21   b  formed in the device body  21 , a lever  32  constituting the sensor mounting means  30  is accommodated and the shaft  31  supporting the lever  32  is supported via the sliding means  40  so as to freely slide in the direction of the arrow D (the arrangement side of the coin tube). 
     The sliding means  40  comprises a pair of guide plates mounted to the back  21   c  of the concave part  21   b  and guide grooves  42  formed in the guide plates  41  and the guide grooves  42  support each end part  3 l a  of the shaft  31  so as to freely rotate and freely slide in the direction of the arrow D. 
     The guide grooves  42  are formed in the direction of the arrow D as shown in the drawing. 
     In the sensor mounting means  30  with this sliding means  40  added, as shown in FIG. 7, when one cassette tube  10  is mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part  22 , the empty sensor  5  positioned at the lower end  32   a  of the lever  32  rotates counterclockwise round the shaft  31 , closely adheres to a predetermined position of the back  10   c  of the coin tube  10  surely, and positioned and arranged in the place. 
     In this case, even if there is a little arrangement error in the bearing part supporting the shaft  31  of the lever  32 , the shaft  31  slides and withdraws in the direction of the arrow D by the sliding means  40  and can absorb the arrangement error, so that when the coin tube  10  is mounted, the central part  32   c  of the lever  32  and the empty sensor  5  will not come in contact with the back  10   c  of the coin tube  10  by strong force and hence damage such that the shaft  31  is broken by a strong load can be prevented as much as possible. 
     As mentioned above, the shaft  31  of the lever  32  is supported via he sliding means  40  so as to freely slide toward the arrangement side of the coin tube  10 , so that even if there is a little processing or mounting error reversely on the coin tube  10  side, particularly the back  10   c  side of the coin tube  10 , the shaft  31  absorbs it and the empty sensor  5  can be closely adhered at a predetermined position of the back  10   c  of the coin tube  10  surely. 
     Furthermore, not only a mounting or processing error of the coin tube  10  but also, for example, when a coin tube accommodating coins with a small diameter and a small lateral width is to be mounted, it is conventionally necessary to prepare a coin discharge device whose size corresponds to it. However, in the sensor mounting means  30  with the sliding means  40  added, even if a coin tube  50  accommodating coins with a small diameter and a small lateral width L as shown in FIG. 8 in which the same numeral is assigned to each of the same parts as those shown in FIG. 7 is mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part  22 , the shaft  31  slides in the direction of the arrow D by the sliding means  40  and absorbs the shape change, so that it is possible to closely adhere the central part  32   c  of the lever  32  and the empty sensor  5  at a predetermined position of a front  50   c  of the coin tube  50  by it and surely position and arrange the empty sensor  5  at a predetermined position of the front  50   c  of the coin tube  50 . 
     In the aforementioned embodiment, a case that the sensor mounting means  30  for supporting the empty sensor  5  is applied to the coin discharge device  20  with one coin tube  10  or  50  mounted is described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment and needless to say, it may be applied to an empty sensor of a coin discharge device for so-called discharging a plurality of coin kinds for sorting and accommodating a plurality of kinds of coins and selecting and discharging the coin kind according to the amount of change among them. 
     As described above, in the coin discharge device of the present invention, the empty sensor for detecting the existence of remaining coins accommodated in the cassette type coin tube is always withdrawn from the cassette accommodation concave part and arranged via the sensor mounting means for projecting it from the cassette accommodation concave part when the cassette type coin tube is mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part and closely adhering it to one side of the coin tube, so that a coin discharge device that when the cassette type coin tube is to be mounted in the cassette accommodation concave part, the empty sensor and the coin tube do not collide with each other, and hence the damage of the empty sensor is reduced as much as possible, and the existence of remaining coins can be stably detected can be provide. 
     Since the empty sensor closely adheres to a predetermined position on one side of the cassette type coin tube more surely via the sensor mounting means, the distance between coins accommodated in the coin tube and the empty sensor is more accurate and hence the accuracy of detection of the existence of coins by the empty sensor can be enhanced more. 
     Since the sensor mounting means freely slides toward one side of the coin tube via the sliding means, it can not only absorb a mounting error of the sensor mounting means or a processing error of the coin tube but also surely arrange the empty sensor at a predetermined position of the coin tube even if a coin tube with a different size is mounted. 
     The present invention can be executed in various forms without deviated from the spirit or main characteristics. Therefore, the aforementioned embodiments are only examples in every respect and must not be interpreted limitatively. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims but not limited to the text of the specification. Furthermore, deformations and changes belonging to the average scope are all within the scope of the invention.