Patent ID: 7967125

Claim:
A deformed-coin detector comprising: a coin-thickness detecting body having a detecting element which is arranged facing a coin transporting face, comes into contact with a coin transported along the coin transporting face when the coin passes therethrough, and moves by a distance corresponding to the dimension of the coin in its thickness direction, and a light shielding portion moving in conjunction with movement of the detecting element; an elastic member for elastically biasing the detecting element of the coin-thickness detecting body to the coin transporting face side; a light detecting portion which has a light source and a light receiving portion, which are arranged across the light shielding portion of the coin-thickness detecting body from each other, and detects a light shielding amount varied in accordance with movement of the light shielding portion of the coin-thickness detecting body; a coin denomination determining unit for determining a denomination of the coin transported along the coin transporting face; a reference light shielding amount storing unit for, for each denomination, pre-storing a reference light shielding amount that is detected by the light detecting portion when a non-deformed coin passes through the position of the detecting element of the coin-thickness detecting body; and a control portion for, when the coin is transported along the coin transporting face, comparing the light shielding amount detected by the light detecting portion with the reference light shielding amount pre-stored in the reference light shielding amount storing unit regarding the denomination determined by the coin denomination determining unit, and judging that the coin transported along the coin transporting face is a deformed coin in the case where the detected light shielding amount is out of a predetermined range with respect to the reference light shielding amount.