Patent Publication Number: US-6209294-B1

Title: Coin wrapping machine

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a coin wrapping machine which is compact and can reliably produce wrapped coin rolls each including a predetermined number of coins. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Coin wrapping machines are generally constituted so as to stack a predetermined number of coins in a coin stacking section, feed the thus stacked coins to a coin wrapping section and wrap them. In order to ensure that the predetermined number of coins is always wrapped, the number of coins fed to the coin stacking section is counted by a sensor and when the predetermined number of coins to be wrapped have been fed to the coin stacking section, a stopper prevents the following next coin from being fed to the coin stacking section. 
     However, when the coins detected by the sensor are not stacked in the coin stacking section in the proper manner, the number of coins wrapped may be less than the predetermined number and, on the other hand, when the stopper mulfunctions, coins whose number exceeds the predetermined number are fed to the coin stacking section and the number of coins wrapped may be more than the predetermined number. A coin wrapping machine having means for detecting whether the predetermined number of coins to be wrapped have been stacked in the coin stacking section has therefore been proposed. 
     Japanese Patent Application Laid open No. 5-298521 proposes a coin wrapping machine constituted so as to project light onto the edges of the coins stacked in the coin stacking section and fed to the coin wrapping section, detect reflected light by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), detect gaps between adjacent stacked coins based on a detection signal of the CCD and count the number of gaps, thereby detecting the number of coins to be wrapped. 
     However, guide members are provided between wrapping rollers and the coins to be wrapped for guiding wrapping paper in a coin wrapping section so as to reliably guide the wrapping paper even when coins having the smallest diameter among coins to be wrapped are wrapped. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to secure space for disposing the CCD and if the CCD is provided, the coin wrapping machine inevitably becomes large. 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention is to provide a coin wrapping machine which is compact and can reliably produce wrapped coin rolls each including a predetermined number of coins. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The above other objects of the present invention can be accomplished by a coin wrapping machine comprising coin stacking means for stacking deposited coins, coin wrapping means for wrapping coins stacked by the coin stacking means and stacked coin moving means for supporting the stacked coins and moving them from the coin stacking means to the coin wrapping means, said coin wrapping machine further comprising light projecting means disposed between the coin stacking means and the coin wrapping means for projecting light onto the stacked coins being moved from the coin stacking means to the coin wrapping means, light detecting means disposed between the coin stacking means and the coin wrapping means for photoelectrically detecting light impinging onto the stacked coins from the light projecting means and reflected by edges of the stacked coins and coin number determining means for detecting portions between adjacent coins based on detection data produced by the light detecting means, thereby determining the number of the stacked coins supported by the stacked coin moving means. 
     In a preferred aspect of the present invention, the light projecting means and the light detecting means are disposed in the same horizontal plane. 
     In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the light detecting means comprises a plurality of light receiving elements disposed horizontally. 
     In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the coin number determining means is constituted so as to binarize the detection data produced by the light detecting means and detect the portions between adjacent coins based on the thus binarized data. 
     In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the coin number determining means is constituted so as to judge whether light detected by the light detecting means was reflected by an edge of a stacked coin in accordance with reference data produced based on thickness of the thickest coins to be wrapped. 
    
    
     The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the internal mechanism of a coin wrapping machine which is an embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a coin stacking section and a coin wrapping section. 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of a light source, a slit, a cylindrical lens and a line sensor. 
     FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system, detecting system and driving system of a coin wrapping machine. 
     FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing how a line sensor produces a detected wave with respect to stacked coins. 
     FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing detection data binarized by a CPU. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As shown in FIG. 1, a coin wrapping machine which is an embodiment of the present invention is constituted so as to wrap coins of a specified denomination. Coins deposited into the coin wrapping machine through a coin depositing opening (not shown) are transported by a conveyor belt (not shown) and fed onto a rotatable disk  1 . As well known in the art, an annular guide member (not shown) is disposed at the circumferential portion of the rotatable disk  1  and a coin sorting passage  2  is connected to an opening portion of the annular guide member. 
     The coin sorting passage  2  is formed by a pair of guide members  3 ,  4  and a conveyor belt  5  and the clearance between the pair of guide members  3 ,  4  is adjustable so that only coins of a denomination to be wrapped pass through the coin sorting passage  2 , that coins having a larger diameter than that of the denomination of coins to be wrapped remain on the rotatable disk  1  and that coins having a smaller diameter than that of the denomination of coins to be wrapped drop between the pair of guide members  3 ,  4  to be collected. A sensor  6  is provided in the coin sorting passage  2  for discriminating coin denominations and counting the number of coins, and a stopper (not shown) is provided in the vicinity of the downstream end portion of the coin sorting passage  2  to be projectable into the coin sorting passage  2  for stopping the transportation of the following coins. 
     A coin stacking section  7  is provided downstream of the coin sorting passage  2  and is provided with a pair of stacking drums  9 . The outer surface of each stacking drum  9  is formed with a spiral projection  8  for supporting coins on the upper surface thereof. Coin guide members (not shown) are respectively provided immediately upstream and immediately downstream of the pair of stacking drums  9  with respect to the transportation direction of coins in the coin sorting passage  2  for guiding coins so as to stack them on the spiral projections  8 , and a shutter  10  is provided immediately below the pair of stacking drums  9  so that stacked coins can be placed thereon. 
     A coin wrapping section  15  is provided below the coin stacking section  7 . The coin wrapping section  15  comprises three wrapping rollers  16  and a coin supporting post  18 . The coin supporting post  18  can be moved between a waiting position immediately below the shutter  10 , a wrapping position where coins stacked in the coin stacking section  7  are wrapped by winding wrapping paper  17  around the stacked coins by the wrapping rollers  16  and a retracted position below the wrapping position, and can support the stacked coins thereon. The coin supporting post  18  is provided in the vicinity of the tip end of an arm  20  movable along a support shaft  19  by a cam motor (not shown). 
     The coin wrapping section  15  further includes a wrapping paper roll  21  consisting of wrapping paper, a wrapping paper feeding roller  22  for feeding wrapping paper from the wrapping paper roll  21  to between the three wrapping rollers  16  and a cutter  23  disposed between the wrapping paper feeding roller  22  and the three wrapping rollers  16  for cutting the wrapping paper  17 . The coin wrapping section  15  further includes wrapping paper guide members (not shown) for guiding and feeding the wrapping paper  17  to between the stacked coins supported on the coin supporting post  18  located at the wrapping position and the wrapping rollers  16 . 
     Above the wrapping rollers  16 , an upper crimp claw  25  is provided for crimping the upper end portion of the wrapping paper  17  wound around the stacked coins and below the wrapping rollers  16 , a lower crimp claw  26  is provided for crimping the lower end portion of the wrapping paper  17  wound around the stacked coins. 
     Below the wrapping rollers  16 , a gate is provided for separately guiding wrapped coin rolls produced in the coin wrapping section  15  to a wrapped coin roll box (not shown) via a chute (not shown) and coins which were not wrapped in the coin wrapping section  15  to a collecting box (not shown). 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the coin stacking section  7  and the coin wrapping section  15 . 
     As shown in FIG. 2, between the shutter  10  of the coin stacking section  7  and the wrapping rollers  16 , a light source  30  is provided for emitting light through a slit  31  onto the stacked coins supported on the coin supporting post  18  and lowered toward the wrapping rollers  16  as the coin supporting post  18  is being lowered and a line sensor  32  is provided for receiving light emitted from the light source  30  and reflected from the edges of the stacked coins. In front of the line sensor  32 , a cylindrical lens  33  is provided with its axis disposed horizontally. Of the light reflected from the edges of the stacked coins, the cylindrical lens  33  converges only the light in the horizontal direction onto the light receiving elements of the line sensor  32 . For convenience of illustration, FIG. 2 shows the light source  30 , the slit  31 , the line sensor  32  and the cylindrical lens  33  are located at different levels in the vertical direction. However, as shown in FIG. 3, they are actually disposed in the same horizontal plane. The line sensor  32  has a plurality of light receiving elements arranged horizontally. 
     The light source  30 , the slit  31 , the line sensor  32  and the cylindrical lens  33  are adapted for detecting the number of coins supported by the coin supporting post  18 . 
     FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control system, the detecting system and the driving system of a coin wrapping machine. 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the control system of the coin wrapping machine includes a CPU  40  for controlling the operation of the coin wrapping machine, a ROM  41  for storing a control program and a RAM  42  for temporarily storing various data. The detecting system of the coin wrapping machine includes the sensor  6  for discriminating coins and counting the number thereof and the line sensor  32  for receiving light reflected from the edges of coins supported on the coin supporting post  18 . The driving system of the coin wrapping machine includes a motor  50  for rotating the rotatable disk  1 , a motor  51  for driving the conveyor belt  5 , a solenoid  52  for driving the stopper  45  provided in the vicinity of the downstream end portion of the coin sorting passage  2 , a motor  53  for rotating the pair of stacking drums  9 , a solenoid  54  for opening and closing the shutter  10  of the coin stacking section  7 , a cam motor  55  for vertically moving the arm  20  provided with the coin supporting post  18  at the tip end portion thereof, moving the wrapping rollers  16  and moving the upper crimp claw  25  and the lower crimp claw  26  to between the wrapping rollers  16  and toward the upper and lower surfaces of stacked coins, a motor  56  for rotating the wrapping rollers  16 , a drive circuit  57  for turning the light source  30  on and off, a motor  58  for driving the wrapping paper feeding roller  22 , a solenoid  59  for preventing the upper crimp claw  25  and the lower crimp claw  26  from moving to and between the wrapping rollers  16  even when the cam motor  55  is driven, and a solenoid  60  for driving a gate  46  adapted to separately collect wrapped coin rolls and coins which were not wrapped. 
     The thus constituted coin wrapping machine which is an embodiment of the present invention wraps a predetermined number of coins and produces wrapped coin rolls in the following manner. 
     When an operator inputs a wrapping instruction signal to the coin wrapping machine, the wrapping instruction signal is fed to the CPU  40 . When the CPU  40  receives the wrapping instruction signal, it outputs driving signals to the motor  50  and the motor  51 , thereby rotating the rotatable disk  1  and driving the conveyor belt  5 . 
     Coins deposited through a coin depositing opening (not shown) into the coin wrapping machine are transported by a conveyor belt (not shown) to be fed onto the rotating rotatable disk  1 . The coins fed onto the rotatable disk  1  are fed along the annular guide member (not shown) by the centrifugal force produced by the rotation of the rotatable disk  1  and fed out to the coin sorting passage  2  one by one through the opening of the annular guide member. The clearance between the pair of guide members  3 ,  4  is set so that coins having a larger diameter than that of coins of denomination to be wrapped cannot pass the clearance between the pair of guide members  3 ,  4 . Therefore, the coins having a larger diameter than that of coins of the denomination to be wrapped remain on the rotatable disk  1  and only the coins of the denomination to be wrapped and coins having a smaller diameter than that of coins of the denomination to be wrapped are fed one by one into the coin sorting passage  2 . 
     Since the clearance between the pair of guide members  3 ,  4  is further set to be greater than the diameter of coins whose diameter is smaller than that of coins of the denomination to be wrapped, coins having a diameter smaller than that of coins of the denomination to be wrapped drop through the clearance between the pair of guide members  3 ,  4  to be collected. 
     The coins fed into the coin sorting passage  2  and which are of the denomination to be wrapped are discriminated by the sensor as to the denomination thereof and the number thereof is counted by the sensor  6 . The coins are then fed toward the coin stacking section  7  in the coin sorting passage  2 . A detection signal and a count signal are forwarded to the CPU  40  and when the CPU  40  receives the detection signal and the count signal, it stores the results of the detection and the count made by the sensor  6  in the RAM  42 . The CPU  40  simultaneously drives the motor  53  based on the number of coins to be stacked in the coin stacking section  7  so as to set the vertical position of the spiral projections  8  formed on the side surfaces of the pair of stacking drums  9 . 
     When the CPU  40  judges based on the result of the count made by the sensor  6  that the predetermined number of coins to be wrapped have been fed into the coin stacking section  7 , it outputs a driving signal to the solenoid  52  to cause the stopper  45  to project into the coin sorting passage  2 , thereby preventing subsequent coins from being fed into the coin stacking section  7 . Simultaneously, the CPU  40  outputs driving signals to the motor  50  and the motor  51 , thereby stopping the rotation of the rotatable disk  1  and the drive of the conveyor belt  5 . The CPU  40  simultaneously outputs driving signals to the motor  53  and the cam motor  55  for a predetermined time period, whereby the coin supporting post  18  is started moving toward the waiting position immediately below the shutter  10 . 
     The coins fed into the coin stacking section  7  are supported by the upper surface of the spiral projections formed on the outer surfaces of the pair of stacking drums  9 . In accordance with the rotation of the stacking drums  9 , coins sequentially fed into the coin stacking section  7  are stacked on the upper surface of the spiral projections while they are guided by the coin guide members (not shown). When the predetermined number of coins to be wrapped have been stacked on the outer surfaces of the pair of stacking drums  9  and lowered to the vicinity of the shutter  10 , the coins are delivered onto the shutter  10 . 
     When a predetermined time period has passed after the stopper  45  was driven and the CPU  40  judges that the stacked coins have been delivered onto the shutter  10  and the coin supporting post  18  has reached the waiting position, the CPU  40  outputs a driving signal to the solenoid  54  to open the shutter  10 , thereby delivering the stacked coins placed on the shutter  10  to the upper surface of the coin supporting post  18  located at the waiting position. 
     The CPU  40  then outputs a driving signal to the cam motor  55 , thereby lowering the arm  20  along the support shaft  19  and outputs a driving signal to the drive circuit  57 , thereby turning the light source  30  on. 
     Light emitted from the light source  30  passes through the slit  31 , thereby being transformed into a beam thin in the vertical direction and impinges on the edges of the stacked coins. The light reflected by the edges of the stacked coins enters the cylindrical lens  33  disposed with its axis directed horizontally. As a result, only a horizontal component of the reflected light is converged onto the horizontally arranged light receiving elements of the line sensor  32  and received thereby. 
     FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing how the line sensor  32  produces a detected wave with respect to stacked coins wherein FIG. 5A shows the positions of the coin supporting post  18  and coins C and FIG. 5B shows how the line sensor  32  produces a detected wave. 
     In FIGS. 5A and 5B, t 0  designates the time when the coin supporting post  18  has been lowered and the line sensor  32  detects light reflected by the lower end portion of the coin supporting post  18 , t 1  designates the time when the line sensor  32  detects light reflected by the gap portion between the upper end portion of the coin supporting post  18  and the lower surface of the lowermost coin C, t 2  designates the time when the line sensor  32  detects light reflected by the gap portion between the upper end portion of the lowermost coin C and the lower surface of a second coin C stacked on the lowermost coin C, t 3  designates the time when the line sensor  32  detects light reflected by the gap portion between the upper end portion of the second coin C and the lower surface of a third coin C stacked on the second coin C, and t 4  designates the time when the line sensor  32  detects light reflected by the gap portion between the upper end portion of the third coin C and the lower surface of a fourth coin C stacked on the third coin C, respectively. 
     Therefore, the reflected light detected by the line sensor  32  between the time t 0  and t 1  was reflected by the coin supporting post  18  and the reflected light detected by the line sensor  32  between the time t 1  and t 2 , the time t 2  and t 3  and the time t 3  and t 4  was reflected by the lowermost coin C, the second coin C and the third coin C, respectively. 
     The edge of coin C is often formed with milling. However, even when the edge of coin C is formed with uneven portions, if the denomination of coins C is the same, the total amounts of the light reflected from the side surfaces of coins C and detected by the line sensor  32  are substantially the same. To the contrary, since the obverse and reverse surfaces of a coin C are generally formed with uneven portions and adjacent coins C are in contact with each other with uneven portions thereof formed on the surfaces so that a gap portion is present between the adjacent coins C, the amount of light reflected by the portion of the adjacent coins C is less than that reflected by the edge of a coin C. Further, the diffusion reflection on the uneven portions of the obverse and reverse surfaces of coins C tends to occur. Therefore, the amount of light reflected by the portion between the adjacent coins C and received by the light receiving elements of the line sensor  32  is much less than that reflected by the edge of a coin C and received by the light receiving elements of the line sensor  32 . Accordingly, when the line sensor  32  receives light reflected by the portion between adjacent coins C, as shown in FIG. 5B, since the output level of the waveform output from the line sensor  32  is markedly lowered, the number of the portions between adjacent coins C can be detected based on the waveform output from the line sensor  32  and the number of the stacked coins supported on the coin supporting post  18  can be determined based on the number of the portions between adjacent coins C. Since the diameter of the coin supporting post  18  is determined to be smaller than the diameter of the smallest coins to be wrapped, the amount of light reflected by vertical unit length of the coin supporting post  18  and detected by the line sensor  32  is less than the amount of light reflected by vertical unit length of the side surface of a coin C and detected by the line sensor  32 . Therefore, it is possible to distinguish the coin supporting post  18  and a coin C based on the waveform output from the line sensor  32 . The sampling period for reflected light by the line sensor  32  has to be determined so as to enable detection of the portion between adjacent coins C. More specifically, assuming that the lowering velocity of the coin supporting post  18  is V and the narrowest width of a portion between adjacent coins C to be wrapped is W, the sampling period for reflected light by the line sensor  32  has to be determined to be equal to or shorter than Δt=W/V. 
     As the coin supporting post  18  is lowered, the detected waveform shown in FIG. 5B is output from the line sensor  32 . The CPU  40  uses a threshold value T to binarize detected data of reflected light input from the line sensor  32  into an H signal and an L signal and detects the number of the portions between the adjacent coins C based on the binarized data, thereby determining the number of coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18 . 
     FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing detection data binarized by the CPU  40 . FIG. 6A shows binarized data when the threshold value T is set to be greater than the level of the amount of received light reflected from the coin supporting post  18  and FIG. 6B shows binarized data when the threshold value T is set to be lower than the level of the amount of received light reflected from the coin supporting post  18 . 
     As shown in FIG. 6A, when the threshold value T is set to be greater than the level of the amount of received light reflected from the coin supporting post  18 , it is possible to easily detect the number of portions between adjacent coins C and determine the number of coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18 . However, in the case where the difference between the diameter of the smallest coins C to be wrapped and that of the coin supporting post  18  is small, even when the threshold value T is set to be greater than the level of the amount of received light reflected from the coin supporting post  18  and lower than that of received light reflected from the side surface of the smallest coin C to be wrapped, the CPU  40  may judge that the level of the amount of received light reflected from the coin supporting post  18  is greater than the threshold value T for some reasons and, as shown in FIG. 6B, binarize it to an H signal. Therefore, the coin wrapping machine according to this embodiment is constituted so as to accurately determine the number of coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18 . More specifically, there is stored in the ROM  41  in advance a reference time period value equal to a value X 0  produced by adding a predetermined time period δt to the time period during which an H signal is input from the line sensor  32  to the CPU  40  when light emitted from the light source  30  is projected onto the edge of the thickest coin C to be wrapped and the light reflected therefrom is detected by the line sensor  32 . When a detection signal is input from the line sensor  32 , the CPU  40  reads out the reference time period data from the ROM  41 . The CPU  40  then detects the time period X from the time when an H signal was input to the time when an L signal is input and judges whether or not the time period X is longer than the reference time period value X 0  read out from the ROM  41 . If the time period X is not longer than the reference time period value X 0 , the CPU  40  judges that the H signal was produced by detecting light reflected from the edge of a coin C and determines the number of coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18  by counting the number of L signals thereafter input. To the contrary, if, as shown in FIG. 6B, the time period X is longer than the reference time period value X 0 , since it can be considered that the H signal was produced by detecting light reflected from the side surface of the coin supporting post  18 , the CPU  40  judges that the L signal first input was produced by detecting light reflected from the portion between the upper surface of the coin supporting post  18  and the lower surface of the lowermost coin C and determines the number of coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18  by counting the number of L signals thereafter input. 
     When time period during which the CPU  40  is detecting an L signal thereafter input is longer than the reference time period data X 0 , since it can be considered that the detection of the coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18  has been completed, the CPU  40  reads out the number of coins C to be wrapped and stored in the ROM  41  in advance and compares it with the counted value of the number of coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18 , thereby judging whether or not the predetermined number of coins C are stacked and supported on the coin supporting post  18 . 
     When the counted value of the number of coins C does not coincide with the number of coins C to be wrapped, the CPU  40  stores in the RAM  42  an instruction that the coin wrapping should not be effected. On the other hand, when the counted value of the number of coins C coincides with the number of coins C to be wrapped, the CPU  40  outputs no instruction to the RAM  42 . 
     When the coin supporting post  18  supporting the stacked coins C has been lowered to the wrapping position, the CPU  40  accesses the RAM  42  and judges whether or not an instruction that the coin wrapping should not be effected is stored in the RAM  42 . When an instruction that the coin wrapping should not be effected is not stored in the RAM  42 , the CPU  40  outputs a driving signal to the motor  58  to rotate the wrapping paper feeding roller  22 , thereby feeding the leading end of the wrapping paper  17  into a space between the wrapping rollers  16  and the coins C stacked and supported on the coin supporting post  18 . The CPU  40  then outputs a driving signal to the cam motor  55  for a predetermined time period to move the wrapping rollers  16  close to each other, thereby causing the wrapping rollers  16  to hold the coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18  therebetween via the wrapping paper  17 . The CPU  40  further outputs a driving signal to the motor  56  to rotate the wrapping rollers  16 , thereby winding the wrapping paper  17  around the stacked coins held by the wrapping rollers  16  therebetween. When a predetermined length of the wrapping paper  17  has been fed to a portion between the wrapping rollers  16  and the stacked coins, the wrapping paper  17  is cut by the cutter  23 . 
     After the wrapping paper  17  has been wound around the stacked coins, the CPU  40  outputs a driving signal to the cam motor  55  for a predetermined time period, thereby moving the upper crimp claw  25  and the lower crimp claw  26  to between the wrapping rollers  16  and then moving them toward the upper and lower surfaces of the stacked coins so that the upper and lower end portions of the wrapping paper  17  are crimped by the upper crimp claw  25  and the lower crimp claw  26  to produce a wrapped coin roll. 
     The CPU  40  then outputs a driving signal to the cam motor  55  for a predetermined time period, thereby moving the upper crimp claw  25  and the lower crimp claw  26  apart from the upper and lower surfaces of the stacked coins, from between the wrapping rollers  16  to the outside, and simultaneously moving the coin supporting post  18  to the retracted position and the wrapping rollers  16  apart from each other. 
     The thus produced wrapped coin roll is fed to a wrapped coin roll box (not shown) via a gate  46  and a chute (not shown). 
     To the contrary, when an instruction that the coin wrapping should not be effected is stored in the RAM  42 , the CPU  40  does not output any driving signal to the motor  58  but outputs a driving signal to the cam motor  55  for a predetermined time period to move the wrapping rollers  16  close to each other, thereby causing the wrapping rollers  16  to hold the coins C supported on the coin supporting post  18  therebetween. The CPU  40  simultaneously outputs a driving signal to the solenoid  59 , thereby preventing the upper crimp claw  25  and the lower crimp claw  26  from moving to between the wrapping rollers  16  even when the cam motor  55  is driven and outputs a driving signal to the solenoid  60 , thereby switching the gate  46  so as to communicate with a collecting box (not shown). Afterward, the CPU  40  outputs a driving signal to the cam motor  55  for a predetermined time period, thereby moving the coin supporting post  18  to the retracted position and moving the wrapping rollers  16  apart from each other. 
     As a result, in the case where the number of coins stacked on the coin supporting post  16  does not coincide with the number of coins C to be wrapped, the coins C are collected in a collecting box (not shown) via the switched gate  46 . 
     According to this embodiment, it is judged whether or not the number of stacked coins supported on the coin supporting post  16  coincides with the number of coins C to be wrapped by projecting light emitted from the light source  30  onto the stacked coins supported on the coin supporting post  18  via the slit  31 , converging light reflected by the edges of the coins C onto the light receiving elements of the line sensor  32  by the cylindrical lens  33  and analyzing a detected wave form output from the line sensor  32 . Further, the light source  30 , the slit  31 , the cylindrical lens  33  and the line sensor  32  are disposed in the same horizontal plane between the coin stacking section  7  and the coin wrapping section  15 . Therefore, without making the coin wrapping machine large, it is possible to provide means for detecting the number of coins stacked in the coin stacking section  7  and being transferred to the coin wrapping section  15  even when guide members (not shown) for guiding the wrapping paper  17  between the three wrapping rollers  16  and coins to be wrapped are provided and it is extremely difficult to secure a space for detecting the number of coins to be wrapped in the coin wrapping section  15 , thereby reliably producing wrapped coin rolls each including the predetermined number of coins C. 
     The present invention has thus been shown and described with reference to a specific embodiment. However, it should be noted that the present invention is in no way limited to the details of the described arrangements but changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. 
     For example, in the above described embodiment, although light reflected by the edges of coins C is detected by the line sensor  32  including a plurality of light receiving elements disposed horizontally, a single light receiving element may be provided instead of the line sensor  32  to detect the reflected light. 
     Further, in the above described embodiment, although the coin supporting post  18  is detected based on the wave form output from the line sensor  40 , the coin supporting post  18  may be detected based on the rotation amount of the cam motor  55 . 
     Moreover, in the above described embodiment, the light source  30 , the slit  31 , the cylindrical lens  33  and the line sensor  32  are disposed in the same horizontal plane between the coin stacking section  7  and the coin wrapping section  15 . However, if considerations permit, they may be disposed at different positions in the vertical direction. 
     Further, in the present invention, the respective means need not necessarily be physical means and arrangements whereby the functions of the respective means are accomplished by software fall within the scope of the present invention. In addition, the function of a single means may be accomplished by two or more physical means and the functions of two or more means may be accomplished by a single physical means. 
     According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a coin wrapping machine which is compact and can reliably produce wrapped coin rolls each including a predetermined number of coins.