US3319636A - Automatic coin dispensers - Google Patents

Description

May 16, 1967 H. E. VERBEKE 3,319,

AUTOMATIC COIN DISPENSERS Filed Dec. 20, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HENRY E. VERBE/(E I 27 L l/ f -T+=%=F%L ATTORNEY H98 ll" I I lNVENTOR y 16, 1967 H. E. VERBEKE 3,319,636

AUTOMATIC con: DISPENSERS Filed Dec. 20, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

z x. I /L22 j INVENTOI? HENRY E. VERBEKE ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofifice 3,319,636 Patented May 1-6, 1967 3,319,636 AUTOMATlC COIN DESPENSERS Henry E. Verbeke, Tannersbrook Road, Chester, NJ. 07930 Filed Dec. 20, 1965, Ser. No. 515,088 1 Claim. (Cl. 1332) This invention relates to coin dispensers and particularly to a means whereby one may obtain change such as five nickels upon the deposit of a quarter. The use of such change makers is widespread but it requires a great deal of service particularly in loading the device since this has always been a manual operation. It is obvious that an automatic means for loading the device is greatly to be desired and it is an object of this invention to provide just such an automatic means.

Applicant refers to the prior art Patent 3,135,271 granted June 2, 1964 as showing a very accurate coin dispenser which extracts coins from a single tube coin reservoir and dispenses them to a customer who has deposited other coins of greater value. It is impracticable to feed such a dispenser directly from a bulk storage bin so that sorting must be done in at least two steps, first from bulk storage to an accurately piled stack of coins and second from a reservoir of such accurately piled stack of coins to a coin dispenser such as that described in the above noted patent. The first of these steps has been a manual operation and has required an undue length of time.

In accordance with the present invention, applicant has provided a rotatable disc which he places at the bottom of the bulk storage bin to pick coins as it rotates and to drop these coins one by one into the top of a coin tube where they are accurately piled into a stack from which a dispenser may feed. The said disc has a thickness dimension substantially the same as the thickness of the coins to be handled and is provided with a circumferential row of aperture each large enough to admit a coin so that as the disc revolves these apertures are filled with coins which are moved until the top of the coin tube is reached. Motor means are provided to rotate the said disc and this is automatically put into operation when the supply of coins in the coin tube reaches depletion and thereafter operates for a predetermined time interval which is substantially sufficient to fill the coin tube. If in its rotation the said disc fails to have one or more of its apertures filled with coins because of the random positions of the said coins in bulk, it is immaterial for the level of the coins stacked in the said coin tube may not reach its maximum height with the result that the following operation of the disc will take place at an earlier time. The point is that accurate stacking of the coins in the coin tube is of far greater importance than the filling of every aperture in the circumferential row of apertures moving beneath the coins in bulk in the said storage bin. It may therefore 'be said that the selection and movement of the coins is accomplished in two steps the second of which is of high accuracy and that this accuracy is reached at the expense of accuracy in the first step.

Another feature of the invention is a means responsive to the depletion of said stack of coins in said coin tube to trigger the operation of the said apertured rotatable disc and to hold it in operation for a time period approaching the time necessary to fill the coin tube. As set forth hereinbefore, it is not necessary to completely fill the coin tube with an accurately arranged stack of coins since any number of coins in excess of the minimum which will trigger the operation of the rotatable coin disc will be sufiicient for a dispensing operation and the operation of the coin disc will be repeated each time the level of the stacked coins reaches depletion.

Another device intimately associated with the coin tube is the multiple slide coin dispenser which receives the proper number of coins from the stack of coins in the said tube and drops them in a chute to be delivered to the customer. These slides have a thickness slightly more than the maximum thickness of the number of coins they will handle and the upper edge thereof is formed into a'cam surfaceso that when a slide is moved an extra coin is raised upwardly and so is not moved to the dispensing position. The plurality of slides are moved from the position where they receive coins from the said coin tube to the dispensing position in sequence, whereby a given intended number of coins is handled by each slide, by way of example, three nickels by the lowermost slide and two nickels by the uppermost slide.

These slides are moved by cams, a double cam surface movable through a complete cycle of three hundred sixty degrees being provided and rotated by a motor in response to the deposit of a value in coins equal to the value in nickels expected by the customer. During a major portion of the first half of the rotation of the cams the lowermost of the slides only moves toward the dispensing position to be followed during the remainder of the said first half revolution by the uppermost of the slides whereby the excess coins held by each slide are cammed above the level of the slide and both slides reach the dispensing position simultaneously, each invariably filled with a predetermined number of coins whose sum will equal the proper change to be delivered to the customer. During the second half revolution of the said cams both slides move without any relative mutual change in position 'back to the point where they receive a new load of coins ready for another dispensing operation.

It may therefore be said that means are provided to move the slides successively from the loading point to the dispensing point and thereafter simultaneously from the dispensing point back to the loading point.

The drawings consist of two sheets, having eight figures as follows:

FIG. 1 is a view from the back of the device with parts broken away to give a schematic view of the coin disc which rotates in the bottom part of the bulk storage bin, the lower part of the coin tube in which the coins picked up by the said coin disc are stacked and some of the details of the cam arrangement for moving the multiple slides of the coin dispenser,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device of FIG. 1, showing the motor for rotating the coin disc beneath the bulk supply of coins, and particularly the arrangement for moving the multiple coin slides at the bottom of the coin tube,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the bottom of the coin tube with the coin slides in their normal positions at re t.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the arrangement of the parts shown in FIG. 3 after the lowermost of the slides has started its movement showing how the top coin in this slide is being cammed upwardly so that this lowermost slide will move only the proper number of coins to the dispensing position,

FIG. 5 is another view of the same showing how the uppermost of the slides has started its movement and has cammed an extra coin back up into the coin tube so that again the proper number of coins is moved,

FIG. 6 is an end view of the slide cam taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 2 to show the arrangement of the two slide cams affixed to the cam bearing plate and the motor means for rotating this plate,

FIG. 7 is another enlarged sectional view of the coin dispenser at the bottom end of the coin tube indicating more clearly the slide filling station and the dispensing station, and FIG. 8 is a schematic outline view of the part of the device used for receiving the larger coins which are inserted for obtaining change.

of apertures 8, 9 and so on whereby the disc as it revolves i picks up coins from the bulk pile and drops them one by one through an aperture in the Wall of the bin 1 into the upper end of the tube 2 where they become accurately stacked, that is, piled neatly one on top of the other, as indicated in FIG. 1 where the lower part of tube 2 is shown broken away, and in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 showing in detail the stacking of coins in the multiple slides 4 and 5.

The disc 6 is rotated by a motor 12 mounted on the underside of the bottom wall 13 of the storage bin 1 and 'has mounted thereon a time controlled switching means 14 which maintains an operating connection to the motor 12 for a time period substantially sufficient to fill the tube 2. In operation, a switching means 15 is controlled by a feeler 16 so that as the stack of coins becomes depleted the switching means 15 goes into operation and triggers the means 14 to start the motor 12 and to hold it in operation for a complete cycle of operation thereof. Thereafter the motor 12 is not operatedagain until the stack of coins in the tube 2 is again nearly depleted.

Again, in operation, a customer who wishes change, drops a quarter, by way of example, into the slot 17 provided therefor and this will operate a switch 18 to trigger the operation of the motor 19 which, through conventional means causes a full three hundred sixty degree rotation of a cam bearing plate 20. This plate has affixed to it a cam 21 for moving the lowermost slide 4 and a similar cam 22 for moving the uppermost slide 5. A cam follower 23 is afiixed to the slide 4 and similarly a cam follower 24 is afiixed to the slide 5. 1 When the plate as shown in FIG. 2 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, the lowermostslide 4 is moved for a part of thefirst half of a revolution of the plate 20, whereby coin marked 4 is cammed above this lowermost slide. During the remainder of the first half revolution of the plate 2%, the uppermost slide moves and both reach the dispensing point together. Thereafter, both slides are returned to their original positions simultaneously and without any relative change in position.

It has been found that three is the maximum number of coins that may be accurately counted, whereby applicants arrangement of multiple slides is necessary, the lower slide for handling three coins and the upper slide 7 one by one into said tube to be for handling the remaining two where a quarter is being changed.

. into a chute for delivery to a customer.

The plate 20 is moved by a motor 19 triggered by conthe slot 17.

FIG. 7 indicates the normal loading positions of the slides and 5 and shows a deflector 28 for guiding coins What is claimed is:

An automatic coin dispenser comprising a two element device consisting of a first element coin tube comprising the reservoir of a single reservoir coin dispenser, a sorter for rearranging coins taken from random positions in bulk to a pile of coins accurately stacked in said coin tube, said sorter consisting of a bulk storage bin for holding a supply of coins and having a rotatable plate mounted for movement in said storage bin beneath the said store of coins, said plate having a thickness dimension substantially equal to the thickness of coins stored in said bin, said plate having a circumferential line of apertures therein each substantially equal in diameter to the diameter of a coin, means for rotating said plate to pass said circumferential line of apertures over the entrance of said tube whereby coins taken from bulk by said plate are dropped accurately stacked therein and. a second element set of multiple slides for automatically extracting a plurality of sets of coins from said stack of coins, each set of coins being limited invariably. to a given number and the total of said sets constituting a predetermined number of coins to be dispensed, means being provided to move said slides of said second element in succession whereby first the bottom slide and set of coins is extracted while the top slide and stack of coins is held without movement and then, as part of the same cycle, the top slide and its plurality of coins is extracted while the bottom slide is held without movement.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Heim et al 194'-10 X ROBERT E. REEVES, Primary Examiner. STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, Examiner.

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