Patent ID: 8210335

Claim:
A bill and coin acceptor, comprising: a face panel, said face panel comprising a bill slot, a coin slot disposed at one lateral side relative to said bill slot and a coin-return slot spaced below said coin slot; a first housing fastened to said face panel, said first housing comprising a bill passage kept in communication with said bill slot, a power drive mechanism adapted for transferring an inserted bill from said bill slot through said bill passage, said power drive mechanism comprising a motor, a drive gear set coupled to and rotatable by said motor and a plurality of bill-transfer belts mounted on said drive gear set and rotatable by said drive gear set to transfer an inserted bill from said bill slot through said bill passage, and a bill recognition module adapted for recognizing the authenticity and value of a bill being inserted into said bill slot; and a second housing coupled to one lateral side of said first housing and fastened to said face panel, said second housing comprising a coin passage kept in communication with said coin slot, a coin sensor module and an optical recognition device respectively set in said coin passage and adapted for sensing the authenticity and value of a coin being inserted into said coin slot, a driven gear set arranged at top and bottom sides relative to said coin passage and facing said drive gear set of said power drive mechanism for assisting transfer of an inserted bill through said bill passage, a coin-return passage kept in communication with said coin-return slot, and a gate set in between said coin passage and said coin-return passage and movable to open the passage between said coin passage and said coin-return passage.