(54) COIN HANDLING EQUIPMENT
(75) Inventor: Timothy William Hill, Shrewsbury (GB)
(73) Assignee: Scan Coin AB, Malmo (SE)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 152 days.
(21) Appl.No.: 11/531,889
(22) Filed: Sep. 14, 2006
(65) Prior Publication Data
US 2007/0062783 Al Mar. 22, 2007
Related U.S. Application Data
(60) Provisional application No. 60/785,697, filed on Mar. 24, 2006, provisional application No. 60/785,450, filed on Mar. 24, 2006, provisional application No. 60/720,974, filed on Sep. 27, 2005.
(30) Foreign Application Priority Data
Sep. 17, 2005 (GB) 0519039.2
Mar. 3, 2006 (GB) 0604289.9
Mar. 6, 2006 (GB) 0604432.5
(51) Int. CI.
G07D 1/00 (2006.01)
(52) U.S. CI 453/57; 453/29; 453/31;
453/59
(58) Field of Classification Search 453/6,
453/7, 11-13, 30, 33-35, 49-54, 56, 57,
453/59
See application file for complete search history. (56) References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 76,492 A 4/1868 Meaker (Continued)
A hopper coin feeder (1) comprises upper and lower hopper discs (18, 25). A flexible hopper wall (17) of diabolo shape cooperates with the upper disc (18) to control the feeding of coins by a coin pushing member (35) to the outer margin of the disc (18) where they are gripped between an annular band (33) and the disc (18) to be conveyed past a coin discriminator (61). Any coins or debris that drop from the edge of upper disc (18) are caught on the lower disc (25) and pass to a reject chute (132) and coin payout cup (12). An active coin delivery chute and diverter (80), FIG. 10, comprises a reciprocable plate (81) having a finger (82) which controls whether a coin fed from the upper disc (18) passes down the chute or is rejected onto the lower disc (25). Coins that pass down the chute enter a bowl (89) of a double-disc coin conveying assembly (5) that conveys a coin from the bowl (89) to a LIFO coin stacks (3) of a coin storage unit (1). Oversize coins that enter the chute can be directed through the bowl (89), and through aligned apertures (8) in the coin conveying discs, to pass into a coin outlet (10) also leading to the payout cup (12).
26 Claims, 9 Drawing Sheets
