Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a coin feeding apparatus for coins that are accommodated in a storage portion, separated by a rotation disk, and fed to a feed-out coin port, and more particularly to a coin feeding apparatus suitable for providing an accurate release of coins fed out along an outer periphery of the rotation disk by way of centrifugal force against a controlled resistance. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   As one example of a conventional technique of a coin feeding apparatus, a rotation disk is provided inside a hopper and coins are scraped out one by one by a claw provided on the rotation disk and moved upward. The coins are received on a coin rail at an exit near a top portion to be guided to a coin mechanism from the exit along the rail, as shown in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-298749. 
   In such a conventional technique, a coin can inadvertently drop off the claw due to vibration occurring when coins are supplied and thrown into a hopper while a coin is being subjected to feeding operation to an exit by the rotation disk. Particularly coins having small diameter and a thin thickness can easily drop off. Although such a coin is scraped out and is in the feeding operation, if the coin drops off, the feeding operation is nullified, which undesirably reduces the coin processing efficiency. 
   Further, at the time of a normal coin feeding by the rotation disk, the coin is pushed out while being moved in the periphery direction on the disk face of the rotation disk, and enters a slit-shaped exit positioned in parallel. The height and width of the exit formed in a slit shape is set such that only a single horizontally-laid coin, positioned on an upper face of a lower rotation circular plate can pass through. 
   If a coin drops off the disk face of the rotation disk due to vibration or the like, the coin can unintentionally strike the slit-shaped exit obliquely. Then, a coin which obliquely strikes the exit can be pressed with the claw in the feeding operation on its opposite side, and consequently the coin is sandwiched between the exit and the claw to create a locked state. 
   In such a situation, the rotation disk cannot perform a feeding rotation operation due to the locked coin so that the rotation is stopped. A rotation stop is detected as an operation fault and the entire apparatus is stopped in its operation by a controller and removal of the locked coin is needed to restart the apparatus. Therefore, there is a problem in that a frequent abnormal stop, due to such a cause, also reduces the operation rate of the coin feeding apparatus. 
   Furthermore, when a coin that is carried near the exit is passed to a coin rail by the rotation disk, the coin can drop off the rail due to an unstable movement caused by vibration of the apparatus itself. The coin can drop off due to irregular motion of the coin itself when stirred and rotated at a fast speed inside the hopper instead of being located on the rail. Also, the coin may not drop off and the coin may be hung up and stopped at the rail. 
   In this case, when a coin that has passed to the receiving portion is fed out by a feeding wheel, the wheel can press against the coin and cannot rotate so that the apparatus will be stopped in its operation. 
   There is accordingly, a demand to address such problems as the requirement for increasing the speed of coin movement has increased in this field. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is a first object of the present invention to provide a coin feeding apparatus that is capable of efficiently processing a coin by providing apparatus for maintaining and carrying a coin in a more stable controlled state when the coin is being fed by a high speed rotation disk. 
   It is a second object to provide a coin feeding apparatus in which the apparatus for stably carrying a coin can be achieved with a simple structure and at a low cost. 
   In order to achieve the above objects, a coin processing apparatus according to a first aspect is configured as follows. 
   In a coin feeding apparatus configured such that after coins are held and separated into a division recessed portion arranged on an upper face of a rotation disk, the coins are fed out from an opening provided at a predetermined position in the periphery direction of the rotation disk by a coin pushing moving body movably provided within the division recessed portions. When the coins are moved in the periphery direction of the rotation disk by the moving body at the time of the rotation of the rotation disk, a pressing member elastically presses the coins against an upper face of the rotation disk. 
   In this structure, when the rotation disk rotates, the moving body operates in association therewith to push the coin outward and feed it to the opening at an exit while moving the coin in the periphery direction. 
   At that time, the coin is further being pressed against the upper face of the rotation disk by a coin pressing portion. The coin can stably lie on the upper face of the rotation disk and is stably put on the moving body. Thus, during the coin feeding operation by the moving body, the coin will not drop off the moving body. The coin is temporarily held by the moving body, accurately fed to the exit opening so that an accelerated coin process can be performed, thereby improving the coin processing rate. It also is possible to provide a coin feeding apparatus with high operation reliability and remarkably less failures. 
   According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a coin feeding apparatus wherein the pressing member is provided with a first pressing portion for elastically pressing coins moved from the division recessed portion in the periphery direction of the rotation disk by the moving body against the upper face of the rotation disk, and a second pressing portion for pressing the coins immediately before being passed by the moving body to a coin receiving portion provided near the opening against the upper face of the rotation disk. 
   With this structure, when the coin in the initial operation of the moving body is pushed outside the division recessed portion, the coin is in a pressed state on the upper face of the rotation disk by the first pressing portion. Thus, since the coin lies on the upper face of the rotation disk in a more stable state, the coin will not drop off the moving body, thereby accurately pushing the coin. 
   Also when the coin is passed to the coin receiving portion by a further operation of the moving body, the coin is pressed onto the upper face of the disk by the second pressing portion to be stable in its posture so that the coin can be smoothly passed to the coin receiving portion. 
   Since the coin remains pressed onto the upper face of the rotation disk even after being passed, the coin is stably placed on the coin receiving portion until the feeding rotation wheel reaches an exit position. Therefore, the coins can be accurately fed out one by one by the coin feeding wheel. 
   According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin feeding apparatus comprising a block plate inclined upward relative to the upper face of the rotation disk in the rotation upstream direction of the rotation disk, for preventing the coins moved to the periphery direction of the rotation disk from proceeding toward the inlet of an exit opening, which is provided continuously by the first pressing portion and extends in the diameter direction of the rotation disk. 
   With this structure, even if the coin moves to strike the exit slot opening in the feeding portion during the coin feeding operation, the movement thereof is stopped by the block plate inclined upward before the opening so that the coin will not strike the inlet of the opening. 
   Therefore, there can be prevented, an occurrence where the coin will strike the exit opening and be sandwiched between the opening and the moving body to be in a locked state. Accordingly, there are less failures in which the coin will be locked during the feeding operation, thereby providing a coin feeding apparatus with high reliability which can be maintained for a long period of time. 
   According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a coin feeding apparatus wherein the pressing member is an elastic pressing plate integrally composed of a first elastic pressing piece which is inclined downward and extends so as to be positioned before the coin opening and in contact with the coins on the rotation disk at its tip end and a second elastic pressing piece which is inclined downward and extends so as to be positioned behind the coin opening and in contact with the coins on the rotation disk at its tip end. 
   With this structure, since the first elastic pressing piece is positioned before the coin opening when the moving body operates to push a coin outside the division recessed portion, the coin can be effectively pushed out. Further, since the second elastic pressing piece is positioned behind the coin opening when the moving body operates to pass the coin to the coin receiving portion the coin can be effectively fed into the coin opening. 
   Further, an elastic pressing plate in which the first elastic pressing piece and the second elastic pressing piece are integrally formed, before and behind the coin opening is provided so that a coin can be stably fed out with a simple structure. Since the elastic pressing plate can be made of synthetic resin, it can be provided as a simple and inexpensive member, which is practical and easily replaced. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic front view of a coin processing apparatus using a coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a front view of the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is a front view of a coin pressing member provided in the coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the pressing member; 
       FIG. 5  is a front view showing how coin drop-off is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an appearance thereof; 
       FIG. 7  is a front view showing how a coin receiving mistake is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of an appearance thereof; 
       FIG. 9  is a front view showing how coin strike against an opening is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 10  is a perspective view of an appearance thereof; 
       FIG. 11  is a perspective view of the entire appearance showing a schematic structure of the coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 12  is a view showing various failure phenomena of coin feeding by an unimproved coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention, which is a front view showing coin drop-off phenomenon; 
       FIG. 13  is a front view showing a coin receiving mistake phenomenon; 
       FIG. 14  is a front view showing a coin lock phenomenon; and 
       FIG. 15  is a cross-section view taken along the line A-A of  FIG. 14 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention which set forth the best modes contemplated to carry out the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention. 
   The term “coin” used herein in the specification includes currency coins, tokens, medals and the like, and includes circular ones and polygonal ones in shape. 
   At first, the structure of the coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 11 . 
   The present embodiment is a coin feeding apparatus for use in a coin processing apparatus which can receive 8 different types of coins, such as 2-Euro coin, 1-Euro coin, 50-cent coin, 20-cent coin, 10-cent coin, 5-cent coin, 2-cent coin and 1-cent coin, which are common currency of the European Union, and can store coins of each type, and pay a predetermined number of coins of predetermined types based on payment instruction for example in a vending machine. 
   In  FIG. 1 , the coin processing apparatus  100  includes a coin feeding apparatus  101 , a coin type determining apparatus  102 , a coin carrying apparatus  103  and a coin selecting apparatus (not shown) provided inside the coin carrying apparatus  103 . 
   In other words, the coin feeding apparatus  100  is provided with a rotation disk  105  for dividing and feeding coins one by one and the coins are fed to the coin type determining apparatus  102  one by one by a moving body  117  pivotably provided on the rotation disk  105 . A coin  110  is fed into the coin type determining apparatus  102  through a coin passing opening  106  provided at the top of the coin feeding apparatus  101 . 
   The present invention is characterized in that the coin  110  is pushed toward an outer periphery direction of the disk as a result of a rotational operation of the rotation disk  105  in the coin feeding apparatus  101  and coins are fed into the coin opening  106  at the top thereof while being moved along the outer periphery of the disk. A pressing member  10  can press a coin  110  against an upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  so that the coin feeding operation can be stably performed at a high speed. 
   The pressing member  10  is arranged along the rotation path of the coin rotation disk  105  adjacent the coin opening  106 . While the coin  110  is being carried from the coin feeding apparatus  101  to a coin type determining apparatus  102 , the coin neither drops off the moving body  117  nor becomes jammed along the moving path, and is accurately fed into the coin opening  106  so that the coins can be efficiently processed. Details thereof will be described subsequently. 
   After the authenticity and type of coins are determined by a magnetic sensor or the like (not shown since conventional sensors can be used) in the coin type determining apparatus  102 , the coins are fed into the carrying apparatus  130  for the next processing step, and the coins are separated based on the type or denomination in the coin selecting apparatus  130  which is configured to open/close predetermined gates to release specific coins while coins are carried along a predetermined path. 
   For more detailed description, the coin feeding apparatus  100  includes a rotation disk  105 , a storage bowl  104  for storing coins, and a cylinder-shaped storage ring  107  positioned under the storage bowl  104  to surround the rotation disk  105  as shown in  FIG. 2 . Several different types of coins, thrown from the coin throwing port, are introduced and dropped into the storage portion under the release port of the storage bowl  104  to be stored in an accumulated manner. 
   The rotation disk  105  has a universal division recessed portion  113  for receiving different denominations of coins one by one, and is obliquely provided at the bottom of the storage ring  107  at a predetermined angle to be rotated at a predetermined speed and in a certain direction, that is counterclockwise as shown by an arrow G in the embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
   The rotation disk  105  is composed of a base rotation circular plate  111  and a pushing disk  12  fixed on the upper face of the rotation circular plate  111  coaxially with the rotation circular plate  111  and made of a Y-shaped plate having three recessed portions at a constant interval on the protrusion  115  so that a space between the protrusions  115  of the pushing disk  112  and the moving body  117  described later form a substantially semicircular division recessed portion  113  at the upper face of the rotation circular plate  111 . 
   Further, the depth of the division recessed portion  113 , that is the thickness of the pushing disk  112  is formed to be slightly smaller than the thickness of the thinnest coin among the 8 types of coins. 
   The plate is not limited to a Y-shape and may be found as a plate in which several protrusions are radially formed. The rotation circular plate  111  and the plate, that is the pushing disk  112 , may be integrally shaped by pre-sintered metal or from a wear-resistant resin. 
   The division recessed portion  113  between the protrusions  115  has a moving body  117  arranged at its one side, which pivotally operates about a pivot shaft  120  to receive and eject coins. 
   The division recessed portion  113  is formed to be a substantially semicircular division recessed portion on the rotation circular plate  111  by the moving body  117  and the protrusions  115 . A slightly concaved recessed portion is formed at the other side of the division recessed portion  113  in the protrusion  115  and a coin extrusive portion  121  for receiving the coin  110  against the recessed portion and carrying the same is formed in the recessed portion. An arcuate receiving portion  118  for receiving the moving body  117  is provided in the division recessed portion  113  in opposite to the coin extrusive portion  121 . 
   Here, the division recessed portion  113  is set in its size such that two coins having the smallest diameter cannot be received side by side and only one coin having the largest diameter can still be received. Thus, two coins having the smallest diameter cannot be received into the division recessed portion  113  in a side by side in the diameter direction of the rotation disk  105 . 
   When the moving body  117  is typically in the rest state near one side of the recessed portion so as to form a fully open position for the division recessed portion  113  and is subsequently moved to a predetermined position through the pivot motion, the moving body  117  thereby feeds the stored coins in the periphery direction of the rotation circular plate  111 . 
   The ejection movement to the predetermined position by the moving body  117  is initiated along the rotation path of the rotation disk  105  slightly downstream of the aforementioned coin passing opening  106  which is formed such that the coin can pass to the coin type determining apparatus  102  at the top of the storage ring  107 . When the moving body  117  passes through the opening  106 , the moving body  117  is returned and operated to be accommodated in the receiving portion  118  formed at one side of the recessed portion to again receive a stored coin. 
   The moving body  117  can be moved on a groove cam by utilizing the rotation operation of the rotation circular plate  111 . In other words, a pin  122  is fixedly provided at the middle of the moving body  117  and is inserted into an arcuate through hole  123  formed about the pivot shaft  120 , where the pin  122  is formed in the rotation circular plate  111  of the rotation disk  105 . Further, there may be employed a drive mechanism in which the pin  122  is slidably inserted into a groove cam provided at the lower side of the rotation circular plate  111  (not shown) through a moved body such as a roller. 
   The rotation disk  105  is rotated by an electric motor  124  (see  FIG. 1 ). The rotation of the electric motor  124  is transmitted to a speed reducing or deceleration gear (not shown) formed at a lower periphery face of the rotation circular plate  111  (not shown) through a decelerator gear or gears and the rotation disk  105  is rotated at a predetermined speed. 
   A coin feeding wheel  128  is provided at the side of the coin type determining apparatus  102  into which a coin is fed. A coin guide rail  129  is provided inside the coin type determining apparatus  102  in correspondence to the wheel  128 . 
   A part of the coin guide rail  129  near the opening  106  is formed into a knife-shaped coin receiving portion  127  (see  FIGS. 5 and 6 ) for easy reception of the coin  110 . The thicknesses of the coin guide rail  129  and coin receiving portion  127  are set to be of sufficient size to accommodate the coins. 
   Thus, the coins  110 , accumulated inside the storage bowl  104 , are stirred by the rotation disk  105  having the above structure and the coins  110  are held in the division recessed portion  113  one by one and moved upward, and are pushed out in the periphery direction from the division recessed portion  113  by the moving body  117  when the coin reaches the predetermined position above the rotation center. 
   The pushed coins  110  are lead to the opening  106  via the coin receiving portion  127 . Then, the coins are fed into the coin type determining apparatus  102  while being rotated along the guide rail  129  by a feeding arm  128   a  of the wheel  128  at the side of the coin type determining apparatus  102  which is rotating to face the opening  106 , and then the coins are fed into the carrying apparatus  104  and subsequently to a coin type determination. 
   In this manner, the coin  110  is fed from the opening  106  to a coin passage  130  at the side of the coin type determining apparatus  102  by the rotation disk  105  in the same posture as the obliquely-provided rotation disk  105 , and is received by the coin receiving portion  127 . The opening  106  is provided at an obliquely-cut portion at the lower right corner of the box-shaped coin type determining apparatus  102  as understood from  FIGS. 2 and 11 . 
   For a further description of the coin type determining apparatus  102 , the coin type determining apparatus  102  accommodates the wheel  128  in the circular recessed portion  126 , and is composed of a plate-shaped fixed substrate  133  below the coin guide rail  129  and coin receiving portion  127  and a main body  134  which is pivoted at an attachment shaft  135  on the right of the fixed substrate  133  in an openable/closable manner, has a box-shaped case and incorporates a coin type determining sensor or the like inside the case, see  FIG. 2 . Here, part of the periphery of the circular recessed portion  126  formed in the fixed substrate  133  is opened and is communicated with a recessed portion  109  inside the coin feeding apparatus  101  (see  FIG. 5 ). 
   The inner bottom face of the circular recessed portion  126  is a wheel-arranged base face  126 S and the inner bottom face of the recessed portion  109  inside the apparatus is an upper face  105 S of the rotation disk. The wheel-arranged base face  126 S and the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk are continuous in the plane. Thus, the inner bottom face of the circular recessed portion  126  as the coin feeding face and the inner bottom face of the recessed portion  109  inside the apparatus are continuous in a smooth plane so that a coin can be smoothly moved from the coin feeding apparatus  101  to the coin type determining apparatus  102  through the coin opening  106 . 
   When the main body  134  of the coin type determining apparatus  102  is closed, as shown in  FIG. 15 , the rear face  134 B of the main body  134  is opposed to the wheel-arranged base face  126 S as the inner bottom face of the circular recessed portion  126 , and is also opposed to the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk as the inner bottom face of the recessed portion  109  inside the apparatus. Thus, the opening  106  is formed among the three members. 
   The coin opening  106  is in a slit rectangular shape, and the thickness and width thereof is set so that only one coin at a time can pass. Since the coin feeding apparatus copes with several types of coins, the opening  106  is set and formed to have a thickness and width in as much conformity as possible to a coin having the maximum thickness and maximum diameter. 
   For detailed description, the opening  106  is a rectangular port surrounded by 4 members such as the coin receiving portion  127  for defining the thickness and width of the opening  106  and the right-side protrusion  140  (see  FIGS. 6 and 9 ) at the circular recessed portion opposite thereto in addition to the rear face  134 B of the main body, the circular recessed portion  126  and the recessed portion  109  inside the apparatus. The surface of the wheel  128  is covered with the rear face  134 B of the closed main body. 
   At the coin opening  106 , an attachment plate  8  of a horizontally-long plate shape, as shown in  FIG. 11  is mounted in a canopy shape at the lower end of the main body  134  of the coin type determining apparatus  102 . The canopy-shaped attachment plate  8  is positioned opposed to the wheel-arranged base face  126 S and the disk face  105 S of the rotation disk when the main body  134  is closed, and constitutes part of the opening as an upper wall of the opening  106 . 
   When the rotation disk  105  is rotated, and the coin  110  is pushed outside the division recessed portion  113  by the moving body  117  which pivotally operates in accordance with the rotation, and is fed toward the coin opening  106  while being moved along the inner periphery of the storage bowl  104 , the feeding operation may not be normally performed in some cases. 
   For example, a phenomenon as shown in  FIG. 12  may occur. In other words, when the coin  110  is pushed out from the division recessed portion  113  by the moving body  117 , the coin  110  may drop off a tip end  117   e  of the moving body  117  due to the apparatus&#39;s vibration or the like. If the coin  110  may drop off when the coin  110  is captured by the moving body  117  and is not smoothly ready to be fed into the opening  106 , the coin feeding rate decreases so that the apparatus lacks in its coin processing ability. 
   As shown in  FIG. 13 , at the final stage where the coin  110  is put on the coin receiving portion  127  by the moving body  117 , the coin may drop off the coin receiving portion  127  or may be held at the tip end  127   e  of the coin receiving portion  127  in a hung manner instead of dropping off completely. 
   When the coin  110  is not put on the receiving portion  127  and is stopped at the receiving portion  127  in a hung manner, the wheel  128  cannot rotate due to the stopped coin  110  and cannot feed out the coin  110  with its arm  128   a . Consequently, the wheel  128  cannot rotate, which is determined as an operation failure and will interrupt the operation of the apparatus itself. 
   Moreover, as shown in  FIGS. 14 and 15 , when the coins  110  are moved from the division recessed portion  113  to the outer periphery by the moving body  117 , some coins  110  may jump out from the disk face of the rotation disk  105  due to the apparatus&#39;s vibration, and other coins are directed outside of the rotation disk  105  due to momentum. Then, the coins may strike the inlet of the opening  106  like a coin  110 B as shown in  FIG. 15 . In other words, the coin  110 B becomes oblique and strikes the tip end  8   d  of the attachment plate  8  at its upper end  110   g  and stops at the opening  106 . A coin  110 B, stopping at the inlet of the opening  106 , is sandwiched and locked between the opening  106  and the moving body  117  and thus cannot move because the coin is pressed at its opposite side with the moving body  117 . Because of the thus locked coin  110 B, the rotation disk  105  cannot rotate, which causes an abnormal stop to the apparatus. 
   The repair fixing of an apparatus in an abnormal stop requires removal of the clogged coin  110 B or the like, and consequently the working dispensing rate of the coin processing apparatus may significantly decrease. 
   The present invention addresses these potential problems. 
   At first, the attachment plate  8  having a horizontally-long plate shape, which extends in a canopy shape as described above, is attached at the lower end of the main body  134  of the coin type determining apparatus  102 . 
   On the other hand, as shown in  FIGS. 2 to 10  and the like, the pressing member  10  for elastically pressing the coin  110  against the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  is provided along the rotation path near the opening  106  of the rotation disk  105 . 
   The face opposite to the pressing face, that is the lower face of the coin  110 , is pushed against the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  by the pressing member  10  by way of an appropriate pressing force. Thus, the coin  110  stably lies on the upper face of the rotation disk  105 . In this manner, since the coin can be placed on the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  in a stable posture, the coin  110  can be smoothly fed out. 
   The pressing member  10  is a flexibly elastic plate which is configured to be made of synthetic resin or the like to have a plane shape as shown in  FIG. 3  and to have an oblique portion  12  as shown in  FIG. 4  at its upstream part. 
   The pressing member  10  can be mounted on the rear side of the attachment plate  8  by glue or other adhesive material. The glued portion is illustrated by diagonal lines  22  in  FIG. 3 . The pressing member  10  can be made of a synthetic resin such as a polycarbonate material having the thickness of about 0.3 mm. Since the pressing member  10  is made of a flexible material such as synthetic resin, the material itself has appropriate elasticity to provide a resilient force. 
   With more detailed description, the pressing member  10  has a plate-shaped base or body member  10   k  having a predetermined width and length, and the aforementioned oblique portion  12  is integrally formed with the plate-shaped base  10   k  at its upstream one end at a predetermined inclination angle, for example at the inclination angle of 30°. The oblique portion  12  has a first pressing portion  14  which extends downward from the base  10   k . The first pressing portion  14  is a first elastic pressing piece  14 H. 
   Further, the oblique portion  12  is formed with a block plate  15  (described later) which is continuous with the first pressing portion  14  in the plane and extends upward from the base  10   k . The block plate  15  is directed for preventing the coin  110  from proceeding toward the opening  106 , which will be described later. 
   The pressing member  10  includes a second pressing portion  16  provided at the other end at a predetermined inclination angle, for example at the inclination angle of 30°. The second pressing portion  16  is a second elastic pressing piece  16 H. 
   The first elastic pressing piece  14 H is configured to elastically contact with the upper face of the coin  110  at its tip end as shown in  FIG. 4 . In other words, as illustrated in the figures, the first elastic pressing piece  14 H is provided above the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  at the attachment height d such that the tip end thereof is slightly lower than the thickness D of the coin. 
   Similarly, the second elastic pressing piece  16 H is also provided above the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  at the attachment height d such that the tip end thereof is slightly lower than the thickness D of the coin. In this case, since several types of coins are treated, the attachment height d is set at a position lower than the thickness D of the thinnest coin. 
   Since the pressing member  10  is provided such that the first and second elastic pressing pieces  14 H and  16  are positioned under such a condition, each elastic pressing piece  14 H,  16 H presses the coin  110  against the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  by a predetermined resilient force according to the amount of deflection of the tip end deflected by the coin, respectively. 
   The pressing member  10  is configured such that the first pressing portion  14  (first elastic pressing piece  14 H) is positioned before the opening  106 , the second pressing portion  16  (second elastic pressing piece  16 H) is positioned behind the opening  106 , and the first and second pressing portions  14 ,  16  contact with the coin  110  moved by the moving body  117  at an appropriate timing. 
   Thus, when the coin  110  is moved to the outer periphery side by the moving body  117 , the first elastic pressing piece  14 H of the pressing member  10  contacts with the coin  110  put on the tip end of the moving body  117  at a position shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  and presses the coin downward. Therefore, the coin  110  can stably lie on the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  so that the coin  110  can be smoothly moved by the moving body  117 . 
   In other words, since the coin  110  can be stably pressed so as not to separate from the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105 , the coin  110  is prevented from unstably moving in the thickness direction of the moving body  117  and is held in its appropriate path of movement. Until the final stage where the moving body  117  pivotally operates and pushes the coin  110  from the division recessed portion  113 , the coin  110  can be held without dropping off the moving body  117 , thereby accurately feeding the coin  110 . Thus, the coin feeding rate is improved. 
   The pressing force by the pressing member  10  can be changed depending on the selection of a material of the pressing member  10 , the inclination angle of the elastic pressing pieces  14 H,  16 H and the providing height, and it is possible to obtain an appropriate pressing force as needed by setting such conditions or parameters. In the embodiment, both the first elastic pressing piece  14 H and the second elastic pressing piece  16 H are set at the inclination angle of 30°, but may be at a different angle. 
   A portion where the first pressing portion  14  presses against the coin  110  is at the lower half of the coin face from the center of the coin  110  where a centrifugal force has less impact. This is because it is expected that if the upper half of the coin face at a farther position on the outer periphery from the rotation center of the rotation disk  105  is pressed, the pressing force against the coin may be unstable due to the centrifugal force so that the moving body cannot stably hold the coin. 
   When the coin  110  is farther carried and approaches the opening  106 , the second pressing portion  16  of the pressing member  10  operates. This operation will be described below. 
   The second pressing portion  16  is a triangle plate-shaped portion which is bent to be inclined downward toward the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  at a position opposite to the first pressing portion  12 . The second elastic pressing piece  16 H, as this bending portion, presses the coin  110  downward, that is toward the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk. The second pressing portion  16  is positioned opposite to the coin receiving portion  127  as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . 
   Therefore, when the rotation disk  105  rotates and the coin  110  is put on the coin receiving portion  127  by a pivot operation of the moving body  117 , the coin  110  is pressed against the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk by an appropriate pressure by the second elastic pressing piece  16 H of the second pressing portion  16  at a location as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . Thus, the coin  110  can be stably received at the coin receiving portion  127  and remains placed on the coin receiving portion  127 . Thus, the coin will not drop off the coin receiving portion  127 . 
   The coin  110  put on the coin receiving portion  127  can be smoothly fed into the coin type determining apparatus  102  by the arm  128   a  of the wheel  128  which rotates and reaches the position. If there was no pressing member for making the coin receiving state stable, the coin may drop off the coin receiving portion or may be hung in the dropped state. 
   When the coin stops on the way in the coin receiving portion  127  instead of dropping off completely, the wheel  128  may be stopped due to the coin and cannot rotate, and consequently the apparatus is in abnormal stop condition. However, since the coin  110  is passed to the coin receiving portion  127  in a more stable posture by the second pressing portion  16 , the coin  110  will not stop at the coin receiving portion  127  in a hung manner so that the above failures are eliminated. 
   There will now be a description of the block plate  15 , which is provided in the oblique portion  14  of the pressing member  10  and is inclined upward integrally with the first elastic pressing piece  14 H. 
   The block plate  15  is an elastic plate inclined upward relative to the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105  toward the upstream side of the rotation direction of the rotation disk  105  and is formed continuously with the first pressing portion  12  as shown in  FIGS. 3 ,  4 ,  5  and  FIGS. 9 ,  10 . The inclination angle of the block plate  15  is 30°, which is the same as the first elastic pressing piece  14 H. The block plate  15  has a necessary width, which extends for a predetermined length in the diameter direction of the rotation disk  105 , and thus extends near the opening  106 . 
   Therefore, when the block plate  15  covers the rotation disk  105  like a roof before the opening  106 , even when a coin  110  proceeds toward the inlet of the opening  106 , the block plate  15  prevents it. Thus, the coin  110  is prevented from striking the opening  106  as disclosed with a conventional coin  110 B in  FIG. 15 . 
   Since the block plate  15  forms a barrier and is provided in an upward-inclined manner relative to the upper face  105 S of the rotation disk  105 , even if the coin may jump from the disk face  105 S due to the apparatus&#39;s vibration, the coin is still restricted from jumping by the block plate  15  and is prevented from falling out of the desired coin path, and consequently will not strike the opening  106 . 
   Since the pressing member  10  is made of a flexible member such as a synthetic resin, it has an elastic force and operates to return the coin  110  toward the upper face  105 S of the disk by an appropriate pressure even when the coin  110  bounces and strikes the block plate  15  so that the blocking function on the coin works well. The pressing member  10  can be integrally molded as a one piece member with appropriately hinged first and second pressing pieces  14  and  16 . 
   In this manner, there will not occur a lock state in which a coin striking the opening  106  causes the coin  110 B to be sandwiched between the inlet of the opening  106  and the moving body  117 , which was a conventional problem as shown in  FIGS. 14 and 15 . Thus, since a failure such as rotation stop of the rotation disk  105  is eliminated, the coin can be smoothly fed into the coin type determining apparatus at the next step, thereby obtaining the coin feeding apparatus capable of efficiently processing the coins. 
   The present invention can easily and accurately eliminate failures such as the lock phenomenon at the coin feeding port, the coin dropping-off phenomenon from the moving body, the rotation disability of the rotation disk due to coin stop at the coin receiving portion and the like by providing the coin pressing member  10  described above. 
   Thus, since the coin feeding operation of the coins can be stably performed, the coin processing rate of the entire apparatus is remarkably improved, thereby obtaining a beneficial coin feeding apparatus. 
   Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just-described preferred embodiment can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the amended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.

Technology Category: g