Patent ID: 8069967

Claim:
A coin sorting device, comprising: a sorting member that includes a1) a coin conveying passageway with an inlet through which coins are introduced one by one, a2) a plurality of sorting structures spacedly arranged along the conveying passageway, each of the sorting structures being configured to eject coins of a particular denomination, a3) a discrimination sensor for discriminating the coins, disposed between the inlet and the upstream-most sorting structure on the conveying passageway, and a4) an ejection mechanism disposed between the discrimination sensor and the upstream-most sorting structure on the conveying passageway, the ejection mechanism being configured to selectively eject the coins; a conveyor member that conveys the coins along the conveying passageway of the sorting member; at least one pair of first and second sorted-coin receiving units assigned to one of the sorting structures; at least one pair of first and second chutes through which the coins ejected from the associated sorting structure are guided into the first and second receiving units in the associated pair of receiving units, respectively; a route-switching mechanism configured to switch a route of the coins ejected from the associated sorting structure between the first and second chutes in the pair of chutes; and a control unit configured to discriminate the coins on the basis of outputs from the discrimination sensor, and to control the ejection mechanism and the switching mechanism according to discrimination results thereof, the control unit being further configured, for the coins of a denomination to be ejected by the associated sorting structure associated with the switching mechanism, to: b1) control the switching mechanism to switch the route of the coins ejected from the associated sorting structure from the first chute to the second chute in appropriate timing to ensure that a predetermined last coin to be received into the first receiving unit enters the first chute; and b2) control the ejection mechanism to eject all coins of the denomination to be ejected by the associated sorting structure that follow the predetermined last coin that reach the ejection mechanism earlier than the route-switching operation of the switching mechanism.