Patent ID: 7073653

Claim:
A coin handling machine comprising a rotatable disk for receiving coins deposited into a coin handling machine and feeding out the coins into a coin sorting passage one by one by a centrifugal force produced by rotation of the rotatable disk, a reference guide rail for guiding the coins by an inner wall thereof, transporting belt means for transporting the coins while they are held between the coin sorting passage and themselves, and a sensor for detecting optical properties and magnetic properties of the coins, the coin handling machine further comprising a coin sorting opening formed in the coin sorting passage downstream of the sensor along the inner wall of the reference guide rail and a coin sorting member provided in the vicinity of a side portion of the coin sorting opening on the side of the reference guide rail, the coin sorting member comprising at least one coin supporting section having a coin supporting surface for supporting one edge portion of the coin being transported in the coin sorting passage and at least one coin press section for pressing the coin, the coin handling machine further comprising a coin sorting member driving means for moving the at least one coin supporting section between a coin support position where the coin supporting surface supports one edge portion of the coin being transported in the coin sorting passage and a retracted position where the coin supporting surface is retracted from the coin support position and dose not support the coin and moving the at least one coin press section so as to press the coin downward in synchronism with the movement of the coin supporting surface to the retracted position and a control means for driving the coin sorting member driving means based on detection signals from the sensor and the coin handling machine being constituted so as to forcibly drop the coin supported by the coin supporting surface into the coin sorting opening and sort it.