Patent ID: 7503840

Claim:
A coin arranging/conveying apparatus comprising: a coin hopper for holding coins therein; an arranging/conveying belt disposed at the bottom of the coin hopper and has an arranging/conveying surface on which coins are arranged and conveyed; a separation roller that faces the arranging/conveying surface of the arranging/conveying belt and serves to control coins conveyed by the arranging/conveying belt into a single layer; a movable roller disposed below the separation roller and facing the underside of the arranging/conveying surface of the arranging/conveying belt so that the movable roller maintains a given height of a gate gap between the separation roller and the arranging/conveying surface of the arranging/conveying belt while being capable of moving downward should an excessively thick coin or a plurality of coins overlapping each other forming an excessive thickness enter the gate gap; a first gate portion that is provided in the coin outputting area of the coin hopper and serves to arrange coins into a single layer and in single file, the first gate portion being defined by: the separation roller, the portion of the arranging/conveying surface of the arranging/conveying belt that faces the separation roller, and the movable roller, which faces an underside of the arranging/conveying surface of the arranging/conveying belt; a coin passage unit including: a coin passage upstream end roller adapted to rotate at a speed higher than that of the arranging/conveying belt and disposed downstream from the first gate portion and in proximity to the separation roller so that the cylindrical surface of the coin passage upstream end roller faces the arranging/conveying surface of the arranging/conveying belt, with the distance therebetween being less than the thickness of a coin, and that the coin passage upstream end roller is capable of moving upward to enable coins to enter between the coin passage upstream end roller and the arranging/conveying surface, a transfer belt wrapped around the widthwise middle portion of the coin passage upstream end roller, which is located at the upstream end of the conveyance path of the transfer belt, the transfer belt being adapted to rotate at a speed higher than that of the arranging/conveying belt, and a coin passage bottom plate extending continuously from the arranging/conveying belt; and a second gate portion that serves to arrange coins into a single layer and in single file and is defined by: the coin passage upstream end roller, the portion of the arranging/conveying surface of the arranging/conveying belt that faces the coin passage upstream end roller, and the portion of the transfer belt that is wrapped around the coin passage upstream end roller.