Patent Description:
In the related art, there is known a disk feeding device including a base body, a storage portion that stores a disk, a rotatable rotary member, a feeding passage through which the disk fed toward an outside of the device passes, and a guide member and a feeding member that face each other via the feeding passage.

For example, <CIT> Al discloses a coin dispenser according to the preamble of claim <NUM>.

Further, a coin output device as a disk feeding device described in <CIT> (Patent Literature <NUM>) includes a base as a base body, a coin collecting funnel as a storage portion that stores a disk-like coin, a rotary disk as a rotary member, guide means as a guide member, and a moving part as a feeding member. The coin is ejected outside the device through a passage between a cylindrical moving part and plate-like guide means. The moving part and the guide means face each other via the aforementioned passage. The rotatable rotary disk includes a circular coin placing hole penetrating in a thickness direction, and a push-up part, and the coin is dropped on an upper surface of the base from the coin placing hole after the coin fed from the coin collecting funnel is caught in the coin placing hole. The rotary disk pushes and moves the coin dropped on the upper surface of the base in a rotation direction by the push-up part protruding downward from a lower surface of the rotary disk. The guide means brings a guide side into contact with the coin pushed by the push-up part to guide the coin toward the above-described passage at a position on an upstream side of the rotary disk in a rotation direction from the moving part. The moving part can reciprocate in a direction in which a distance from the guide means is changed, and the moving part ejects the coin pinched between the moving part and the guide side of the guide means along the passage by a biasing force of a spring while being biased toward the guide means by the spring.

When changing a size of the coin to be set in the coin output device, a user needs to change a distance between the moving part and the guide means in accordance with the size of the coin. In the coin output device described in Patent Literature <NUM>, the user can change the distance between the moving part and the guide means by rotating the guide means about an axis to change an orientation of the guide means.

However, in this coin output device, as the orientation of the guide means changes, a direction in which the guide side of the guide means extends, that is, a direction in which the coin is guided by the guide side changes. When the orientation of the guide means is set in accordance with a large-size coin, the direction in which the coin is guided by the guide side becomes a direction substantially orthogonal to the movement direction of the moving part. When the coin moving in this direction collides with the moving part, there is a problem that the moving part as the feeding member does not satisfactorily move in a movable direction and a coin jam is easily caused.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described background, and an object of the present invention is to suppress occurrence of a disk jam caused by movement failure of the feeding member.

The above mentioned object is achieved by the disk feeding device as defined by claim <NUM>.

According to the present invention, it is possible to exhibit an excellent effect of suppressing the occurrence of the disk jam caused by the movement failure of the feeding member.

Hereinafter, as a disk feeding device to which the present invention is applied, an embodiment of a coin hopper that feeds a disk-like coin will be described. In the following drawings, scales, numbers, and the like in each structure may be different from those of an actual structure in order to facilitate understanding of each structure. In order to facilitate understanding of a portion to be described, a description of reference numerals in a non-target portion may be omitted.

<FIG> is a perspective view illustrating a coin hopper <NUM> according to an embodiment when viewed from above. <FIG> is a perspective view illustrating the coin hopper <NUM> in a state in which a hopper head <NUM> as a storage portion is removed. The coin hopper <NUM> includes a base body <NUM>, a hopper head <NUM>, a rotary disk <NUM> as a rotary member, and a pedestal <NUM>. The hopper head <NUM> is attached to an upper surface of the base body <NUM>. At a bottom portion of the hopper head <NUM>, a taper <NUM> and a circular opening <NUM> connected to a lower end of the taper <NUM> are provided. The circular opening <NUM> faces the rotary disk <NUM> disposed on the base body <NUM> in a vertical direction.

Coins are stored in a bulk state in the hopper head <NUM>, and some coins are stacked on the rotary disk <NUM> through the circular opening <NUM> described above. The coins placed on an upper surface of the rotary disk <NUM> are sorted one by one by a rotation of the rotary disk <NUM>, and are fed from a feeding passage to be described later. An upper portion of the feeding passage is covered by a passage cover (<NUM> in <FIG> which will be described later). Examples of the coins include money, scrip money such as a token, a medal used in a game machine, other pseudo money, and the like. A shape of a plane cross section of the disk set in the disk feeding device according to the present invention is not limited to a perfect circle. A flat body having an elliptical plane cross section, a flat body having a polygonal (for example, a heptagon or a dodecagon) plane cross section, and the like can also be a disk to be set in the disk feeding device according to the present invention.

The pedestal <NUM> covers a drive unit (<NUM> in <FIG> to be described later) provided on a lower surface side of the base body <NUM> while supporting the base body <NUM> from below.

<FIG> is an exploded perspective view illustrating a part of the coin hopper <NUM> when viewed from obliquely above. A circular recess <NUM> including a circular bottom surface 3a and a circumferential wall 3b rising from an outer edge of the bottom surface 3a is provided on an upper surface of the flat rectangular parallelepiped base body <NUM>. On the bottom surface 3a of the circular recess <NUM>, a central through hole 3c is provided at a center of the circle, and a first elongated hole 3d, a second elongated hole 3e, and a position guide hole 3f are provided at positions shifted from the center of the circle. A drive shaft <NUM> of the drive unit passes through the central through hole 3c from the lower surface side of the base body <NUM>. A first pin unit <NUM> including a first regulation pin 15a and a first riding pin 15b passes through the first elongated hole 3d from the lower surface side of the base body <NUM> and protrudes upward from the bottom surface 3a. A second pin unit <NUM> including a second regulation pin 16a and a second riding pin 16b passes through the second elongated hole 3e from the lower surface side of the base body <NUM> and protrudes upward from the bottom surface 3a. A guided portion 12a of a pin bracket to be described later is inserted into the position guide hole 3f from the lower surface side of the base body <NUM>.

The circumferential wall 3b of the circular recess <NUM> is not connected over the entire circumference, and includes an opening portion in a predetermined region in a circumferential direction. The circumferential wall 3b guides the movement of the coins in the circumferential direction (rotation direction of the rotary disk <NUM>).

The disk-like rotary disk <NUM> is disposed in the circular recess <NUM> of the base body <NUM> and is rotated about the drive shaft <NUM>. A clockwise direction in <FIG> is a normal rotation direction of the rotary disk <NUM>, and a counterclockwise direction is a reverse rotation direction of the rotary disk <NUM>. As the rotary disk <NUM> rotates in the normal rotation direction, the coins are fed one by one from a feeding passage <NUM> provided at one end portion of the upper surface of the base body <NUM> in a longitudinal direction.

Hereinafter, a radial direction of the circle centered on a rotation axis of the rotary disk <NUM> is simply referred to as a radial direction. In the radial direction, a side close to the rotation axis of the rotary disk <NUM> is referred to as an inner side. In the radial direction, a side away from the rotation axis of the rotary disk <NUM> is referred to as an outer side.

The rotary disk <NUM> includes a center hole <NUM> provided at a center, five coin catching holes <NUM> arranged in the rotation direction at positions on the outer side of the center hole <NUM> in the radial direction, and a conical central convex portion <NUM> provided on the upper surface so as to surround the center hole <NUM>. The central convex portion <NUM> stirs the coins placed on the rotary disk <NUM>.

The drive shaft <NUM> of the drive unit passes through the center hole <NUM> to rotate the rotary disk <NUM>. The coin catching holes <NUM> penetrating in a disk thickness direction (rotation axis direction) catch the coins placed on the rotary disk <NUM> in an orientation parallel to the bottom surface 30a. A circumferential wall surface of the coin catching holes <NUM> has a tapered shape expanding upward, and makes it easy to drop the coins into the coin catching holes <NUM>.

A circular recess <NUM> is provided at the other end portion of the upper surface of the base body <NUM> in the longitudinal direction. A motor <NUM> is fixed to the base body <NUM> in a state in which a distal end portion of the motor <NUM> is inserted into the circular recess <NUM>. A holding unit <NUM> is fixed to the upper surface of the base body <NUM>, and the holding unit <NUM> will be described in detail later.

A coin detection sensor <NUM> including a transmission type optical sensor is disposed at one end portion of the feeding passage <NUM> in a width direction. The coin detection sensor <NUM> includes a light receiving element disposed on a floor surface side of the feeding passage <NUM> and a light emitting element disposed on a top surface side, and detects the coins in the feeding passage <NUM> when an optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element is blocked by the coins.

Although an example in which the circular recess <NUM> is provided on the upper surface of the base body <NUM> has been described, the circular recess <NUM> may be provided on a member fixed to the upper surface of the base body <NUM>. A lower end portion of the hopper head <NUM> may function as a circular recess.

<FIG> is an exploded perspective view illustrating a part of the coin hopper <NUM> when viewed from obliquely below. On the lower surface of the rotary disk <NUM>, a first push body <NUM> and a second push body <NUM> are provided in a vicinity of each of the five coin catching holes <NUM>. The first push body <NUM> and the second push body <NUM> protrude downward from the lower surface of the rotary disk <NUM>. The first push body <NUM> is positioned on an inner side from the second push body <NUM> in the radial direction. Each of the first push body <NUM> and the second push body <NUM> pushes the coins in the normal rotation direction with a side surface on a downstream side of the normal rotation direction. The side surfaces of the first push body <NUM> and the second push body <NUM> are positioned on an involute curve extending outward in the radial direction from the center of the rotary disk <NUM> in a plan view.

In <FIG>, the coins caught by the coin catching holes <NUM> do not stay in the coin catching holes <NUM>, pass through the coin catching holes <NUM>, and fall to the bottom surface 3a of the circular recess <NUM> of the base body <NUM>. In a thickness direction of the rotary disk <NUM>, a clearance smaller than the thickness of the coin is formed between the lower surface of the rotary disk <NUM> and the upper surface of the coin dropped on the bottom surface 3a of the circular recess <NUM>. More specifically, in <FIG>, a protrusion amount of the first push body <NUM> and the second push body <NUM>, which is directed downward from the lower surface of the rotary disk <NUM>, is set to less than twice the thickness of a coin. Therefore, without passing through the coin catching hole <NUM> in a state in which two or more coins overlap each other, coins overlapping on the coins dropped on the bottom surface (3a in <FIG>) of the circular recess remain in the coin catching hole <NUM>.

The lower surface of the base body <NUM> holds a drive unit <NUM> including a plurality of gears and a fixed shaft. A disk gear <NUM> that rotates together with the drive shaft <NUM> about the drive shaft <NUM> is fixed to the drive shaft <NUM> of the drive unit <NUM>. In addition to the disk gear <NUM>, the drive unit <NUM> includes a motor gear <NUM>, a first intermediate gear <NUM>, a second intermediate gear <NUM>, and a third intermediate gear <NUM>.

A motor shaft <NUM> of the motor <NUM> fixed to the upper surface side of the base body <NUM> passes through the base body <NUM> and protrudes toward the lower surface side. On the lower surface side of the base body <NUM>, the motor gear <NUM> that rotates together with the motor shaft <NUM> about the motor shaft <NUM> is fixed to the motor shaft <NUM>. The motor <NUM> is a DC motor that can rotate normally and reversely.

The first intermediate gear <NUM> includes a first small diameter gear 57a, a first large diameter gear 57b, and a first fixed shaft 57c. The first fixed shaft 57c is fixed to the lower surface of the base body <NUM>. The first small diameter gear 57a and the first large diameter gear 57b, which are made of the same member, have a through hole provided at a rotation center position. The first fixed shaft 57c passing through the through hole rotatably holds the first small diameter gear 57a and the first large diameter gear 57b. The first intermediate gear <NUM> causes the first large diameter gear 57b positioned on the upper side among the first small diameter gear 57a and the first large diameter gear 57b to mesh with the motor gear <NUM>. The first intermediate gear <NUM> causes the first small diameter gear 57a positioned on the lower side to mesh with a second large diameter gear 56b of the second intermediate gear <NUM> to be described later. A rotation drive force of the motor gear <NUM> is transmitted to the first large diameter gear 57b and the first small diameter gear 57a at a meshing portion of the motor gear <NUM> and the first large diameter gear 57b of the first intermediate gear <NUM>.

The second intermediate gear <NUM> includes a second small diameter gear, the second large diameter gear 56b, and a second fixed shaft 56c. In <FIG>, the second small diameter gear exists on a back side of the second large diameter gear 56b. The second fixed shaft 56c is fixed to the lower surface of the base body <NUM>. The second small diameter gear and the second large diameter gear 56b, which are made of the same member, have a through hole provided at a rotation center position. The second fixed shaft 56c passing through the through hole rotatably holds the second small diameter gear and the second large diameter gear 56b. The second intermediate gear <NUM> causes the second large diameter gear 56b positioned on the lower side among the second small diameter gear and the second large diameter gear 56b to mesh with the first small diameter gear 57a of the first intermediate gear <NUM>. The second intermediate gear <NUM> causes the second small diameter gear positioned on the upper side to mesh with a third large diameter gear 55b of the third intermediate gear <NUM> to be described later. A rotation drive force of the first small diameter gear 57a and the first large diameter gear 57b is transmitted to the second large diameter gear 56b and the second small diameter gear at the meshing portion of the first small diameter gear 57a and the second large diameter gear 56b.

The third intermediate gear <NUM> includes a third small diameter gear 55a, the third large diameter gear 55b, and a third fixed shaft 55c. The third fixed shaft 55c is fixed to the lower surface of the base body <NUM>. The third small diameter gear 55a and the third large diameter gear 55b, which are made of the same member, have a through hole provided at a rotation center position. The third fixed shaft 55c passing through the through hole rotatably holds the third small diameter gear 55a and the third large diameter gear 55b. The third intermediate gear <NUM> causes the third large diameter gear 55b positioned on the upper side among the third small diameter gear 55a and the third large diameter gear 55b to mesh with the second small diameter gear of the second intermediate gear <NUM>. The third intermediate gear <NUM> causes the third small diameter gear 55a positioned on the lower side to mesh with the disk gear <NUM>. A rotation drive force of the second small diameter gear and the second large diameter gear 56b is transmitted to the third large diameter gear 55b and the third small diameter gear 55a at the meshing portion of the second small diameter gear and the third large diameter gear 55b.

A rotation drive force of the third small diameter gear 55a and the third large diameter gear 55b is transmitted to the disk gear <NUM> and the drive shaft <NUM> at the meshing portion of the third small diameter gear 55a and the disk gear <NUM>. A rotation drive force of the drive shaft <NUM> is transmitted to the rotary disk <NUM>.

The lower surface side of the base body <NUM> holds a feeding bracket <NUM> and a pin bracket <NUM> in addition to the drive unit <NUM>.

At one end portion of the lower surface of the base body <NUM> in the longitudinal direction, a guide groove <NUM> extending along a track in a circumferential direction about the drive shaft <NUM> of the drive unit <NUM> is provided. The feeding bracket <NUM> is disposed in the guide groove <NUM>. A feeding roller <NUM> is rotatably provided on an upper surface of one end portion of the feeding bracket <NUM> in the longitudinal direction. An opening penetrating toward the upper surface of the base body <NUM> is provided at one end portion of the guide groove <NUM> in the longitudinal direction, and the feeding roller <NUM> protrudes upward from the upper surface of the base body <NUM> through the opening. The feeding roller <NUM> can reciprocate within a length range of the opening in the longitudinal direction. The feeding bracket <NUM> is biased toward the feeding roller <NUM> side from a spring <NUM> side by the spring <NUM>. In a state in which a force is not applied to the feeding roller <NUM> by a member other than the spring <NUM>, the feeding roller <NUM> is positioned at an end on a backward movement side (end on the biasing side) in a reciprocating range. Hereinafter, this position is referred to as a home position.

When the feeding roller <NUM> is at the home position, the feeding roller <NUM> is closest to the guide roller to be described later. As the feeding roller <NUM> moves forward from the home position, a distance from the guide roller to be described later increases.

<FIG> is a perspective view illustrating the pin bracket <NUM>. The pin bracket <NUM> includes a main body portion 12f, a first fin portion 12b, a second fin portion 12c, a third fin portion 12d, and the guided portion 12a. The first fin portion 12b is fixed to the main body portion 12f in an orientation extending in the circumferential direction about the drive shaft (<NUM> in <FIG>). On the outer side from the first fin portion 12b in the radial direction, the second fin portion 12c is fixed to the main body portion 12f in an orientation extending in the circumferential direction about the drive axis. On the outer side from the main body portion 12f in the radial direction, the third fin portion 12d is fixed to the main body portion 12f in an orientation extending in the radial direction. A first pin unit <NUM> is provided on an upper surface of the first fin portion 12b. The second pin unit <NUM> is provided on an upper surface of the second fin portion 12c. The guided portion 12a is provided on an upper surface of the main body portion 12f.

The third fin portion 12d is provided with a through hole 12e. As illustrated in <FIG> to be described later, a male screw <NUM> passes through the through hole 12e. The male screw <NUM> passing through the through hole 12e is fastened to any one of three female screw portions <NUM> provided on the lower surface of the base body <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>. This fastening causes the pin bracket <NUM> to be fixed to the lower surface of the base body <NUM>.

<FIG> are plane cross-sectional views for explaining behavior of coins C with a rotation of the rotary disk <NUM>. <FIG> illustrate cross sections at positions of the first push body <NUM> and the second push body <NUM> in a thickness direction of the rotary disk <NUM> when viewed from above. <FIG> illustrate a state in which the coins C are caught only in two of the five coin catching holes <NUM> for convenience, but actually, in most cases, the coins C are caught in all the coin catching holes <NUM>.

When the rotary disk <NUM> rotates normally (rotates in the clockwise direction in the drawing), the coins C placed on the rotary disk <NUM> are caught in the coin catching holes <NUM> while being stirred by a tapered circumferential wall surface around the coin catching holes <NUM> and the central convex portion <NUM>. The coins C caught in the coin catching holes <NUM> pass through the coin catching holes <NUM>, fall to the bottom surface (3a in <FIG>) of the circular recess <NUM>, and are pushed to be moved in the normal rotation direction by the first push body <NUM>. At this time, the coins C are moved to the outer side in the radial direction by a centrifugal force without staying directly below the coin catching holes <NUM>, and the side surface of the coins is brought into contact with the circumferential wall 3b of the circular recess <NUM> of the base body <NUM>. The circumferential wall 3b guides the movement of the coins C in the rotation direction. A contact pressure of the side surface of the coins with respect to the circumferential wall 3b is caused by the centrifugal force in most cases, and thus does not apply a large force.

As illustrated in <FIG>, a coin C is moved to a position of an opening portion (hereinafter, referred to as a circumferential wall opening portion) in which a wall does not exist in the circumferential wall 3b while being pushed in the normal rotation direction by the first push body <NUM>. At the position of the opening portion of the circumferential wall 3b, the coin C is moved outward in a radial direction by the centrifugal force, and a part of the coin C is positioned radially outside a circle having the same curvature as that of the circumferential wall 3b.

In the vicinity of an end portion on the upstream side in the normal rotation direction in the opening portion of the circumferential wall 3b, a guide roller <NUM> as a guide member is disposed radially outside a circle having the same curvature as that of the circumferential wall 3b. At a position on the downstream side from the guide roller <NUM> in the normal rotation direction, the feeding roller <NUM> as a feeding member is disposed radially outside a circle having the same curvature as that of the circumferential wall 3b. The guide roller <NUM> and the feeding roller <NUM> face each other via the feeding passage (<NUM> in <FIG>).

After the state illustrated in <FIG>, the coin C further pushed in the normal rotation direction by the first push body <NUM> moves in the normal rotation direction and in a direction directed outward in the radial direction to come into contact with the guide roller <NUM>, and then is guided toward the feeding passage by the guide roller <NUM>. After that, as illustrated in <FIG>, the coin C further moves in the normal rotation direction and outward in the radial direction to be separated from the first push body <NUM>, and comes into contact with the second push body <NUM> to be pushed by the second push body. Then, a side surface of the coin C on the downstream side in the normal rotation direction is brought into contact with the feeding roller <NUM> and the second regulation pin 16a in a state in which the side surface of the coin C on the upstream side in the normal rotation direction is brought into contact with the guide roller <NUM>. The second regulation pin 16a as a regulation member regulates the movement of the coin C in the normal rotation direction, and guides the coin C outward in the radial direction. In <FIG>, the feeding roller <NUM> is at the home position.

After the state illustrated in <FIG>, the coin C further pushed by the second push body <NUM> further moves outward in the radial direction and is separated from the second regulation pin 16a as illustrated in <FIG>. At this time, the feeding roller <NUM> is pushed in a forward movement direction by the coin C, and moves forward as indicated by an arrow in <FIG>. In this forward movement, the coin C is pinched between the feeding roller <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM>.

After the state illustrated in <FIG>, when the coin C pushed by the second push body <NUM> further moves outward in the radial direction, as indicated by a dotted line in <FIG>, the feeding roller <NUM> moves forward to a position in which a distance from the guide roller <NUM> is substantially equal to a diameter of the coin C. Immediately after this, the feeding roller <NUM> is forcefully moved backward by the biasing force of the spring (<NUM> in <FIG>), and returns to an original position. At this time, when the feeding roller <NUM> ejects the coin C, the coin C is fed outside the device along the feeding passage (<NUM> in <FIG>) (arrow J in <FIG> to be described later). When the coin C passes through the feeding passage, the coin C is detected by the coin detection sensor <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>. When the coin C is detected, the coin detection sensor <NUM> transmits a coin detection signal to a control board.

An example in which only the second regulation pin 16a among the first regulation pin 15a and the second regulation pin 16a regulates the movement of the coin C in the normal rotation direction has been described, but both the first regulation pin 15a and the second regulation pin 16a as the regulation member regulate the movement of the coin C depending on a size of the coin C. Specifically, when the rotary disk <NUM> corresponding to a coin larger than the coin C illustrated in <FIG> is used, both the first regulation pin 15a and the second regulation pin 16a regulate the movement of the coin in the normal rotation direction.

The control board described above is provided outside the coin hopper <NUM>, and counts the number of coins C based on a coin detection signal transmitted from the coin detection sensor <NUM>. The control board turns on and off a power supplied to the motor <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>, and reverses a polarity of a voltage at each of two power supply input terminals of the motor <NUM>. This way, a normal rotation and a reverse rotation of the motor <NUM> are controlled.

When a situation occurs due to occurrence of a coin jam, in which the forward rotation of the motor <NUM> is locked and an excessive current flows to a coil of the motor <NUM> or the coin detection signal is not transmitted from the coin detection sensor <NUM>, the control board executes jam removing processing. In the jam removing processing, the control board repeats a process of performing the reverse rotation and the normal rotation of the motor <NUM> a predetermined number of times for a predetermined time.

When the rotary disk <NUM> rotates in the reverse direction, it is necessary to release the regulation of the movement of the coin in the reverse rotation direction by the first regulation pin 15a and the second regulation pin 16a. Therefore, as illustrated in <FIG>, in the vicinity of the first regulation pin 15a, the first riding pin 15b is provided on the downstream side from the first regulation pin 15a in the normal rotation direction. In the vicinity of the second regulation pin 16a, the second riding pin 16b is provided on the downstream side from the second regulation pin 16a in the normal rotation direction. An upper end of each of the first riding pin 15b and the second riding pin 16b has a hemispherical shape. The coin that comes into contact with the first riding pin 15b when the rotary disk <NUM> rotates in the reverse rotation direction rides on the hemispherical upper end of the first riding pin 15b, and then rides on the first regulation pin 15a. The coin that comes into contact with the second riding pin 16b when the rotary disk <NUM> rotates in the reverse rotation direction rides on the hemispherical upper end of the second riding pin 16b, and then rides on the second regulation pin 16a.

When changing the size of the coin C to be set in the coin hopper <NUM>, the user at least needs to replace the rotary disk <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>, and change the distance between the feeding roller <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>. Specifically, it is necessary to provide the coin catching holes <NUM> having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the coin C on the rotary disk <NUM>, and use the rotary disk <NUM> provided with the first push body <NUM> and the second push body <NUM> which have a thickness corresponding to the thickness of the coin C. The distance between the feeding roller <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM> needs to be changed to a value corresponding to the diameter of the coin C.

In the coin hopper <NUM> according to the embodiment, the user can change the distance between the feeding roller <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM> in a wide range by changing a locking position of the holding unit <NUM> with respect to the base body <NUM> illustrated in <FIG>. Hereinafter, the holding unit <NUM> will be described in detail.

The holding unit <NUM> includes a holding body <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM>. The holding body <NUM> includes a top plate 19a, a first side plate 19b, and a second side plate 19d. The guide roller <NUM> is positioned below the top plate 19a of the holding body <NUM>, and is rotatably held by the top plate 19a. The second side plate 19d is positioned on the outer side from the first side plate 19b in the radial direction. On an outer surface of the second side plate 19d, a second tooth row 19c including a plurality of teeth arranged on a track along the circumferential direction centered on the drive shaft <NUM> of the drive unit <NUM> is provided.

<FIG> is a plan view illustrating one end portion of the coin hopper <NUM> in a longitudinal direction in a state in which the hopper head (<NUM> in <FIG>) is removed. The holding unit <NUM> is fixed to a position on the upstream side from the feeding passage <NUM> on the upper surface of the base body <NUM> in the normal rotation direction (clockwise direction in <FIG>) of the rotary disk <NUM>. A scale 19e is provided on the top plate 19a of the holding body <NUM> of the holding unit <NUM>. The scale 19e is attached to each tooth of the second tooth row (19c in <FIG>).

The base body <NUM> is provided with a first tooth row <NUM> including a plurality of teeth. The plurality of teeth of the first tooth row <NUM> are arranged on a track along the circumferential direction centered on the drive shaft <NUM>.

<FIG> is a plane cross-sectional view illustrating one end portion of the coin hopper <NUM> in a longitudinal direction. <FIG> illustrates a plane cross section of the coin hopper <NUM> at a position of the first tooth row <NUM> in a thickness direction of the base body <NUM> when viewed from the upper surface side of the base body <NUM>. In the base body <NUM> to which the holding unit <NUM> is fixed, the first tooth row <NUM> provided in the base body <NUM> and the second tooth row 19c provided on the second side plate 19d of the holding body <NUM> of the holding unit <NUM> mesh with each other. When the holding unit <NUM> is mounted on the base body <NUM>, the user causes the second tooth row 19c of the second side plate 19d of the holding body <NUM> to mesh with a plurality of teeth which are at an arbitrary position in the first tooth row <NUM> while checking the scale (19e in <FIG>) attached to the second tooth row 19c. In such an operation, as illustrated in <FIG>, the user can change the locking position of the holding body <NUM> with respect to the base body <NUM> along the track in the circumferential direction centered on the drive shaft <NUM>. When the locking position is changed, the distance between the guide roller <NUM> held by the holding body <NUM> and the feeding roller <NUM> facing the guide roller <NUM> via the feeding passage <NUM> is changed.

<FIG> is a plan view for explaining a relationship between a position of the guide roller <NUM> and a direction in which the coin C guided by the guide roller <NUM> collides with a feeding roller <NUM>. In the drawing, an arrow B indicates a direction in which the coin C guided by the guide roller <NUM> collides with the feeding roller <NUM>. An arrow A indicates a forward movement direction of the feeding roller <NUM>.

In the coin hopper <NUM> that changes the locking position of the holding body <NUM> with respect to the base body <NUM> along the track in the circumferential direction centered on the drive shaft <NUM>, when the locking position of the holding body <NUM> is changed, the locking position of the guide roller <NUM> is also changed along the track in the circumferential direction centered on the drive shaft <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, in the coin hopper <NUM> having such a configuration, a direction (arrow B) in which the coin C collides with the feeding roller <NUM> is substantially constant regardless of the distance between the feeding roller <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM> (regardless of the size of the coin C). Furthermore, in the coin hopper <NUM>, by providing the first tooth row <NUM> at an appropriate relative position with respect to the feeding roller <NUM>, the direction (arrow B) in which the coin C collides with the feeding roller <NUM> can be set to be substantially the same as the forward movement direction (arrow A) of the feeding roller <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>. In such a coin hopper <NUM>, since the feeding roller <NUM> with which the coin C collides is smoothly moved in the forward movement direction regardless of the distance between the feeding roller <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM>, occurrence of the coin jam due to the movement failure of the feeding roller <NUM> can be suppressed.

In the coin hopper <NUM> according to the embodiment, a combination of the first tooth row <NUM>, the second tooth row 19c, and the like configures locking position changing means. The locking position changing means changes the locking position of the holding body <NUM> with respect to the base body <NUM> along the track in the circumferential direction centered on a rotation axis (drive shaft <NUM>) of the rotary disk <NUM>.

A direction in which the holding unit <NUM> is attached to and detached from the base body <NUM> is along a tooth width direction of the first tooth row <NUM> (direction orthogonal to a paper surface of <FIG>). In such a configuration, the user can remove the holding unit <NUM> from the base body <NUM> while releasing the meshing of the first tooth row <NUM> and the second tooth row 19c. The user can mount the holding unit <NUM> on the base body <NUM> while meshing the second tooth row 19c with the teeth at an arbitrary position of the first tooth row <NUM>. At this time, the user can set the distance between the feeding roller <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM> to an arbitrary value without using a dedicated jig by grasping the arbitrary position described above with the scale 19e.

As described above, the user can change the size of the coin to be set in the coin hopper <NUM> by replacing the rotary disk <NUM> and adjusting the distance between the feeding roller <NUM> and the guide roller <NUM>. However, when the positions of the first pin unit <NUM> and the second pin unit <NUM>, which are illustrated in <FIG>, are constant, a changeable range of the size of the coin is limited.

Therefore, in the coin hopper <NUM>, a locking position of the pin bracket holding the first pin unit <NUM> and the second pin unit <NUM> can be changed. Specifically, as illustrated in <FIG>, the base body <NUM> is provided with three female screw portions <NUM> for fixing the pin bracket <NUM> as a regulation holding body. In <FIG>, the male screw <NUM> is screwed into one of three female screw portions <NUM>. The user can change a locking position of the pin bracket <NUM> with respect to the base body <NUM> by changing a female screw portion to be fastened to the male screw <NUM> passing through the through hole 12e of the pin bracket <NUM> among three female screw portions <NUM>.

<FIG> is a perspective view for explaining a first example of an attachment state of the pin bracket <NUM>. <FIG> is a perspective view for explaining a second example of an attachment state of the pin bracket <NUM>. In the coin hopper <NUM>, a position of the first pin unit <NUM> and the second pin unit <NUM> can be changed within a range from the position illustrated in <FIG> to the position illustrated in <FIG> in the circumferential direction centered on the drive shaft <NUM>. In such a configuration, the changeable range of the size of the coin can be expanded as compared with a configuration in which the positions of the first pin unit <NUM> and the second pin unit <NUM> are constant.

When the position of the pin bracket <NUM> is changed, the guided portion 12a is inserted into the position guide hole 3f illustrated in <FIG>. The position guide hole 3f guides the position change of the pin bracket <NUM> along the track in the circumferential direction centered on the drive shaft <NUM>. In this coin hopper, a combination of the guided portion 12a, the position guide hole 3f, the male screw <NUM>, the three female screw portions <NUM>, the third fin portion 12d, the through hole 12e, which are illustrated in <FIG>, and the like configures second locking position changing means. The second locking position changing means changes the locking position of the pin bracket <NUM> as a regulation holding body with respect to the base body <NUM> along the track in the circumferential direction centered on the rotation axis (drive shaft <NUM>) of the rotary disk <NUM>.

<FIG> is a side view illustrating the coin hopper <NUM> according to the embodiment. An arrow g in <FIG> indicates a gravity direction. An arrow h indicates a horizontal direction. As illustrated in <FIG>, the coin hopper <NUM> is mounted on a coin processing apparatus such as a money changer in an orientation in which a bottom surface of the pedestal <NUM> is aligned in the horizontal direction h. The base body <NUM> is attached to the pedestal <NUM> in an orientation in which a longitudinal direction (direction indicated by an alternate long and short dash line in the drawing) of the base body <NUM> is inclined from the bottom surface of the pedestal <NUM>. Therefore, in the coin processing apparatus, the orientation of the base body <NUM> is set in which the longitudinal direction is inclined from the horizontal direction h. In the coin hopper <NUM> according to the embodiment, the coin C is ejected obliquely upward from the inside of the coin hopper <NUM> as indicated by an arrow J in <FIG>.

In general, in the coin hopper <NUM>, the size of the base body <NUM> in the longitudinal direction is the largest among each of the parts. Therefore, in the coin processing apparatus, the orientation of the base body <NUM> is set in which the longitudinal direction is inclined from the horizontal direction h as described above, so that space saving of installation space of the coin hopper <NUM> in the horizontal direction h is achieved.

As illustrated in <FIG>, in the coin hopper <NUM>, a disk circumferential edge 30b which is a circumferential edge of the rotary disk <NUM> has a ring shape having a flat surface extending straight in the radial direction. The reason why the disk circumferential edge 30b has a flat surface extending straight in the radial direction is that a thickness capable of exhibiting a desired strength is required for a circumferential wall portion of the rotary disk <NUM>.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view illustrating a hopper head <NUM> and the rotary disk <NUM> of the coin hopper according to a comparative example not including a certain aspect of the present invention. When the rotary disk <NUM> is made of a resin material, there is an advantage that a weight of the rotary disk <NUM> can be reduced, but there is a disadvantage that a width of the circumferential edge of the ring-shaped disk is increased in order to secure strength.

In the rotary disk <NUM>, the reason why the increase in the width of the circumferential edge of the ring-shaped disk is disadvantageous is as follows. That is, when the coin hopper <NUM> is mounted on the coin processing apparatus in the orientation in which the longitudinal direction of the base body <NUM> is inclined from the horizontal direction h, as illustrated in <FIG>, the orientation of the rotary disk <NUM> is set in which the radial direction is inclined from the horizontal direction h. Then, the coin C may remain on a circumferential wall surface of a circular opening <NUM> of the hopper head <NUM>. Specifically, as illustrated in <FIG>, the coin C may come into contact with a region positioned at the lowermost portion in the gravity direction in the entire region of the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening <NUM> in a facing orientation. The coin C in such an orientation stays in the lowermost region on the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening <NUM> by the action of gravity while a side surface of the coin is rubbed against the circumferential edge of the ring-shaped disk without following the rotating rotary disk <NUM>. Then, the control board erroneously detects that all of the coins C have been fed based on a fact that the coin detection signal has not been received from the coin detection sensor (<NUM> in <FIG>) for more than a certain period of time even though the normal rotation of the rotary disk <NUM> is continued. In the coin hopper that is required to accurately count the number of coins C, the erroneous detection is a great disadvantage.

In addition to the coin hopper of the comparative example illustrated in <FIG>, the coin output device described in Patent Literature <NUM> also has a problem that the coin C may remain on the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening of the coin collecting funnel.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a disk feeding device capable of preventing a disk from remaining on a circumferential wall surface of a circular opening of a storage portion (hopper head <NUM> in the embodiment) such as a coin collecting funnel.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a disk feeding device including: a base body; a storage portion that stores a disk; a rotary member that is disposed in the base body and is rotatable; a feeding passage that is provided in the base body and through which the disk fed toward an outside of a device passes; and a guide member and a feeding member that are face each other via the feeding passage, in which the rotary member includes a circular through hole that penetrates in a rotation axis direction and a push portion that pushes the disk in a rotation direction to move the disk, and moves the disk sent to the rotary member from the storage portion and passing through the through hole with the push portion in the rotation direction, the guide member guides the disk moved to a predetermined position of the rotation direction toward the feeding passage, the feeding member is capable of reciprocating in a direction in which a distance from the guide member is changed, and feeds the disk pinched between the feeding member and the guide member by a biasing force of a biasing member while being biased toward the guide member by the biasing member, and a bottom portion of the storage portion includes a taper, a circular opening provided so as to continue to a lower end of the taper and facing the rotary member, and a protrusion provided in a lowermost region in a circumferential direction of a circumferential wall surface of the circular opening.

The coin hopper <NUM> according to the embodiment can achieve the above-described object.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view illustrating the hopper head <NUM> and the rotary disk <NUM> of the coin hopper <NUM> according to the embodiment. In this coin hopper <NUM>, a taper <NUM> descending from the outer side to the inner side in the radial direction is provided on the disk circumferential edge of the rotary disk <NUM>. In the hopper head <NUM>, the coin set in an orientation facing the lowermost region in the gravity direction g in the entire circumferential region of the circumferential wall of the circular opening <NUM> moves further downward while sliding on a surface of the taper <NUM> and falls to the upper surface of the rotary disk <NUM> or into the coin catching hole <NUM>. This falling prevents the coin from remaining in the lowermost region on the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening <NUM>.

On the circumferential wall of the circular opening <NUM> of the hopper head <NUM>, a plurality of protrusions <NUM> arranged at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction is provided in a part of the region in the circumferential direction. One of the plurality of protrusions <NUM> is provided in a region positioned on the lowermost side of the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening <NUM>. Hereinafter, the protrusion <NUM> provided in the region positioned on the lowermost side of the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening <NUM> is referred to as a lowermost protrusion <NUM>.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view of the coin hopper <NUM>. In <FIG>, illustration of the motor (<NUM> in <FIG>) is omitted. As illustrated in <FIG>, the lowermost protrusion <NUM> comes into contact with the coin C to prevent the coin from adhering to the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening <NUM>, and guides a lower portion of the coin C of the gravity direction g toward the coin catching hole <NUM> of the rotary disk <NUM>. In the guiding, the coin C is smoothly caught in the coin catching hole <NUM> of the rotary disk <NUM>, thereby preventing the coin from remaining in the lowermost region of the circular opening <NUM> better in the vicinity of the lowermost region on the circumferential wall of the circular opening <NUM> in the gravity direction g.

It is desirable that the shape of the protrusion <NUM> is a shape having a taper descending from a center of the protrusion <NUM> toward the outer edge at least on each of opposite sides of the protrusion <NUM> in a direction along a central axis of the circular opening <NUM> and opposite sides of the protrusion <NUM> in a direction perpendicular to the central axis of the circular opening <NUM>. Examples of the above-described shape include a conical shape, a polygonal pyramid shape, a hemispherical shape, and the like, and the hemispherical shape without a corner is most preferable. In the coin hopper <NUM> according to the embodiment, as illustrated in <FIG>, the hemispherical shape is adopted as the shape of the protrusion <NUM>. By forming the protrusion <NUM> into a tapered shape as described above, it is possible to prevent the coin C from being caught by the protrusion <NUM>.

Hereinafter, a modification example in which a partial configuration of the coin hopper <NUM> according to the embodiment is modified to another configuration will be described. The configuration of the coin hopper <NUM> according to the modification example is the same as that of the embodiment unless otherwise noted below.

<FIG> is a plan view illustrating one end portion of a coin hopper <NUM> according to a modification example in a longitudinal direction. In the coin hopper <NUM> according to the modification example, the base body <NUM> does not include the first tooth row, and instead of this, the base body <NUM> includes a rotatable gear <NUM> that meshes with the second tooth row (19c in <FIG>) of the holding body <NUM>. A recess 27a into which a tool such as a screwdriver is inserted is provided at a center of the gear <NUM>. The user can change the locking position of the holding body <NUM> with respect to the base body <NUM> by rotating the gear <NUM> by using the tool inserted into the recess.

The present invention has unique effects for each of the following aspects.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a disk feeding device (for example, a coin hopper <NUM>) including: a base body (for example, a base body <NUM>); a storage portion (for example, a hopper head <NUM>) that stores a disk (for example, a coin C); a rotary member (for example, a rotary disk <NUM>) that is disposed in the base body and is rotatable; a feeding passage (for example, a feeding passage <NUM>) that is provided in the base body and through which the disk fed toward an outside of the device passes; and a guide member (for example, a guide roller <NUM>) and a feeding member (for example, a feeding roller <NUM>) that face each other via the feeding passage, in which the rotary member includes a circular through hole (for example, a coin catching hole <NUM>) that penetrates in a rotation axis direction and a push portion (for example, a first push body <NUM> and a second push body <NUM>) that pushes the disk in a rotation direction to move the disk, and moves the disk sent to the rotary member from the storage portion and passing through the through hole with the push portion in the rotation direction, the guide member guides the disk moved to a predetermined position of the rotation direction toward the feeding passage, the feeding member is capable of reciprocating in a direction in which a distance from the guide member is changed, and feeds the disk pinched between the feeding member and the guide member by a biasing force of a biasing member (for example, a spring <NUM>) while being biased toward the guide member by the biasing member, the disk feeding device including a holding body (for example, a holding body <NUM>) that holds the guide member, and locking position changing means (for example, a combination of a first tooth row <NUM>, a second tooth row 19c, and the like) for changing a locking position of the holding body with respect to the base body along a track in a circumferential direction centered on the rotation axis.

In the first aspect, regardless of the distance between the feeding member and the guide member (regardless of a size of the disk), a direction in which the disk guided by the guide member collides with the feeding member is set to be substantially constant. Furthermore, in the first aspect, by setting a relative position between the locking position changing means and the feeding member, the direction in which the disk guided by the guide member collides with the feeding member can be set to be substantially the same as the forward movement direction of the feeding member. In the first aspect, since the feeding member with which the disk collides is smoothly moved in the forward movement direction regardless of the distance between the feeding member and the guide member, occurrence of the coin jam due to the movement failure of the feeding member can be suppressed.

According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, a first tooth row (for example, a first tooth row <NUM>) including a plurality of teeth arranged at a predetermined interval along the track is provided in the base body, a second tooth row (for example, a second tooth row 19c) that includes a plurality of teeth and meshes with the first tooth row is provided in the holding body, and the holding body is configured to be capable of being attached to and detached from the base body in a tooth width direction of the first tooth row.

In the configuration, the user can remove the holding body from the base body while releasing the meshing of the first tooth row provided in the base body and the second tooth row provided in the holding body. The user can mount the holding body on the base body while meshing the second tooth row provided in the holding body with the teeth at an arbitrary position of the first tooth row provided in the base body.

According to a third aspect, in the first aspect, a tooth row including a plurality of teeth arranged at a predetermined interval along the track is provided in the holding body, a gear (for example, a gear <NUM>) meshing with the tooth row is provided in the base body, and the locking position changing means includes at least the tooth row and the gear.

In the configuration, the user can adjust the distance between the feeding member and the guide member with a simple operation of turning the gear.

According to a fourth aspect, in the second aspect or the third aspect, a scale (for example, a scale 19e) is provided on the first tooth row or the tooth row.

In the configuration, the user can set the distance between the feeding member and the guide member to an arbitrary value without using a dedicated jig by grasping a target attachment position of the holding body with respect to the base body by using the scale.

According to a fifth aspect, in any one of the first aspect to the fourth aspect, a regulation member (for example, a first regulation pin 15a and a second regulation pin 16a) that guides the disk toward the feeding passage in a radial direction while coming into contact with the disk pushed by the push portion and moved in the rotation direction to regulate a movement of the disk in the rotation direction; a regulation holding body (for example, a pin bracket <NUM>) that holds the regulation member; and second locking position changing means (for example, a combination of a guided portion 12a, a position guide hole 3f, a male screw <NUM>, a female screw portion <NUM>, a third fin portion 12d, a through hole 12e, and the like) for changing a locking position of the regulation holding body with respect to the base body along a track in a circumferential direction centered on the rotation axis are further provided.

In the configuration, the changeable range of the size of the disk set in the disk feeding device can be expanded as compared with a configuration in which a position of the regulation member is set to be constant.

According to a sixth aspect, in any one of the first aspect to the third aspect, a taper (for example, a taper <NUM>) descending from an outer side to an inner side in a radial direction is provided on an edge of the rotary member centered on the rotation axis.

In the configuration, the disk set in an orientation facing the lowermost region in the gravity direction in the entire circumferential region of the circumferential wall of the storage portion moves further downward while sliding on a surface of the taper provided on an edge of the rotary member and falls to the upper surface of the rotary member or into the through hole. In the sixth aspect, according to the falling of the disk, by preventing the coin from remaining in the lowermost region on the circumferential wall surface of the storage portion, the decrease in counting accuracy of the disk due to the remaining of the disk can be suppressed.

According to a seventh aspect, in the sixth aspect, a bottom portion of the storage portion includes a taper (for example, a taper <NUM>), a circular opening (for example, a circular opening <NUM>) continuing to a lower end of the taper, and a protrusion (for example, a protrusion <NUM>) provided in a lowermost region in a circumferential direction of a circumferential wall surface of the circular opening.

In the configuration, the protrusion provided on the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening comes into contact with the disk to prevent the disk from adhering to the circumferential wall surface of the circular opening, so that the disk in the region on the lowermost stream side of the circumferential wall surface is prevented from remaining more favorably. Therefore, in the seventh aspect, the decrease in counting accuracy of the disk due to the remaining of the disk in the lowermost region on the circumferential wall surface of the storage portion can be suppressed.

The present invention can be suitably used for, for example, a disk feeding device and a disk processing device including the disk feeding device.

Claim 1:
A disk feeding device (<NUM>) including:
a base body (<NUM>);
a storage portion (<NUM>) configured to store a disk (C);
a rotary member (<NUM>) that is disposed in the base body and is rotatable;
a feeding passage (<NUM>) that is provided in the base body and through which the disk fed toward an outside of a device passes; and
a guide member (<NUM>) and a feeding member (<NUM>) that face each other via the feeding passage,
the rotary member including a circular through hole (<NUM>) that penetrates in a rotation axis direction and a push portion (<NUM>, <NUM>) configured to push the disk in a rotation direction to move the disk, and moving the disk that is sent to the rotary member from the storage portion and passes through the through hole with the push portion in the rotation direction,
the guide member guiding the disk moved to a predetermined position of the rotation direction toward the feeding passage,
the feeding member being capable of reciprocating in a direction in which a distance from the guide member is changed, and feeding the disk pinched between the feeding member and the guide member by a biasing force of a biasing member (<NUM>) while being biased toward the guide member by the biasing member, the disk feeding device comprising:
a holding body (<NUM>) that holds the guide member; and
locking position changing means (<NUM>, 19c) for changing a locking position of the holding body with respect to the base body, characterized in that
the locking position changing means is configured to change the locking position of the holding body with respect to the base body along a track in a circumferential direction centered on the rotation axis (<NUM>).