U.S. patent number 3,603,327 [Application Number 05/006,896] was granted by the patent office on 1971-09-07 for jam eliminator apparatus for coin counting machines.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Brandt Automatic Cashier Co.. Invention is credited to Charles T. Bergman, Arnold R. Buchholz.
United States Patent |
3,603,327 |
Buchholz , et al. |
September 7, 1971 |
JAM ELIMINATOR APPARATUS FOR COIN COUNTING MACHINES
Abstract
A helper wheel is disposed at the entrance to the exit passage
of a coin counting machine in which a rotating disk forms coins
into a single file and normally moves the file into the exit
passage. The coins in the exit passage are engaged seriatim by a
rotating ejector wheel which forces the coins past a star wheel
connected to a counter and out a discharge chute. The ejector wheel
is mounted on a driven shaft which is journaled in a tiltable
support so that the ejector wheel may be moved away from the exit
passage to halt the counting of coins. The helper wheel is
supported on a bracket assembly which is mounted on the driven
shaft and is also geared to the driven shaft. The helper wheel is
tilted with the ejector wheel to be rendered operable to engage
coins at the entrance and feed them to the ejector wheel, thereby
preventing the jamming of coins at the entrance.
Inventors: |
Buchholz; Arnold R. (Watertown,
WI), Bergman; Charles T. (Watertown, WI) |
Assignee: |
Brandt Automatic Cashier Co.
(Watertown, WI)
|
Family
ID: |
21723152 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/006,896 |
Filed: |
January 29, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
453/57 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G07D
9/008 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G07D
9/00 (20060101); G07d 009/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;133/8 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
106,238 |
|
Jan 1939 |
|
AU |
|
813,615 |
|
Sep 1951 |
|
DT |
|
939,426 |
|
Oct 1963 |
|
GB |
|
Primary Examiner: Coleman; Samuel F.
Claims
We claim:
1. In a coin handling machine wherein coins are fed in a single
file to an exit passage and wherein a rotating ejector wheel
engages each coin as it is moved through said passage, the
combination therewith of:
a helper wheel disposed at an entrance to said exit passage and in
advance of said ejector wheel, said helper wheel being adapted to
engage each coin of the file and move the same to said ejector
wheel; and
means for rotating said helper wheel when said ejector wheel is
rotated to engage coins in said passage.
2. The combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said ejector
wheel is mounted upon and driven by a drive shaft, and said means
for rotating said helper wheel comprises a driving connection
between said drive shaft and said helper wheel.
3. The combination in accordance with claim 2 wherein said drive
shaft is mounted on said machine for movement between an operative
position of said ejector wheel and an inoperative position in which
said ejector wheel is out of engagement with coins in said exit
passage, together with a support for said helper wheel, said
support being mounted on said drive shaft whereby said helper wheel
will be moved between operable and inoperative positions as said
ejector wheel is so moved.
4. The combination in accordance with claim 3 wherein said support
for said helper wheel includes adjustment means for adjusting the
relative angular position of said support about said drive shaft
for varying the height of the periphery of said helper wheel above
said entrance when said helper wheel is in its operable
position.
5. In a coin handling machine wherein coins are fed in a single
file to the entrance of an exit passage, said entrance being
defined laterally by a spaced gauge member and a coin guide point,
and wherein a rotating ejector wheel engages each coin in said
passage, said ejector wheel being mounted upon and driven by a
drive shaft, the combination therewith of:
a helper wheel disposed at said entrance to the exit passage, in
advance of said ejector wheel and between said gauge member and
said guide point; and
means for rotating said helper wheel when said ejector wheel is
rotated to have said helper wheel engage each coin of the file and
move the same to said ejector wheel.
6. The combination in accordance with claim 5 wherein said means
for rotating said helper wheel comprises a driving connection
between said helper wheel and said drive shaft, together with a
support for said helper wheel and said driving connection, said
support being journaled on said drive shaft.
7. In a coin handling machine having means for feeding coins in a
single file to the entrance of an exit passage, said entrance being
defined by a gauge member and a coin guide point laterally spaced
therefrom, and an ejector wheel mounted on a drive shaft and
adapted to engage each coin as it is moved through said exit
passage, said drive shaft and ejector wheel being movably mounted
on said machine for movement between an operative position for said
ejector wheel and an inoperative position in which said ejector
wheel is out of engagement with coins in said exit passage, the
combination therewith of:
a support pivotally mounted on said drive shaft and having a leg
portion extending toward said entrance,
a helper wheel rotatably supported on said leg portion;
a gear train mounted on said leg portion and drivingly connecting
said helper wheel to said drive shaft;
and biasing means urging said support against a stop on said
machine so that said helper wheel is disposed at said entrance when
said ejector wheel is moved to its operative position and said
helper wheel is then operable to move each coin at said entrance
into said exit passage and to said ejector wheel.
8. The combination in accordance with claim 7 wherein said support
includes adjustment means operable against said stop for adjusting
the relative angular position of said support about said drive
shaft for varying the height of the periphery of said helper wheel
above said entrance when said helper wheel is in its operable
position.
9. The combination in accordance with claim 7 wherein said gear
train is so arranged as to drive said helper wheel at a peripheral
speed less than the peripheral speed of said ejector wheel and
faster than said feeding means feeds coins to said entrance.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to coin counting machines, and more
particularly to an apparatus for insuring that a steady supply of
coins will be delivered to the counting mechanism of the machine
during a counting operation.
A common type of coin counting machine utilizes a hopper whose
bottom is in the form of a disk which, when rotated, moves the
coins deposited on the disk into a single file adjacent the
periphery of the disk. This single file of coins is fed by the
rotating disk to and through an entrance to an exit passage of the
machine. The coins fed into the exit passage are engaged seriatim
by an ejector wheel which forces the coins past a star wheel and
out of a discharge chute. The star wheel is geared to a counter so
that the indexing of the star wheel by the passage of each coin is
recorded and the count of coins is thereby established. The ejected
coins may be conveyed directly to bags, wrappers, or other
containers for the coins, as is well known.
The continuous operation of such coin counting machines depends
upon the smooth, uninterrupted flow of the file of coins into the
exit passage. If the lead coin of the file is jammed in the
entrance to the exit passage, the rotating disk cannot feed the
file of coins into the exit passage because the disk relies upon
friction forces to move the coins. The advent of the use of the new
laminated type of dimes and quarters in the United States has
created a problem in the operation of these coin counting machines.
The laminated coins have sharply serrated edges which become
interlocked like gear teeth. When handled by the coin counting
machines, it happens that a laminated coin which is slightly out of
line is driven by the rotating disk against one side of the
entrance to the exit passage and with its trailing edge interlocked
with the serrations of the leading edge of the next coin. The
result is a bridging of coins across the entrance to the exit
passage. The flow of coins to the ejector wheel is thereby halted
and it is necessary to manually remove the jam of coins before the
normal coin flow will be resumed.
Not only do the new laminated coins have more sharply serrated
edges than the coins previously minted, they also appear to hold
these sharp serrations for much longer periods of time so that the
problem of jamming in the counting machines is not significantly
reduced even after the coins have been in circulation for some
time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention comprises the addition of a driven helper wheel to
the coin counting machine, which helper wheel is disposed at the
entrance to the exit passage and is rotated to forcibly remove the
coins of the file seriatim from the disk and move them into the
exit passage where they may be engaged by the ejector wheel.
The invention further resides in mounting the helper wheel on the
tilt support for the ejector wheel and in driving the helper wheel
from the source of power for the ejector wheel, such that
disengagement of the ejector wheel from the flow of coins to half
the counting will likewise result in disengagement of the helper
wheel from the flow of coins.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a coin counting machine
and including the coin jam eliminator apparatus of this
invention;
FIG. 2 is a front view in elevation of that portion of the coin
counting machine illustrated in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a view in vertical section taken in the plane of the line
3--3 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a view in vertical section taken in the plane of the line
4--4 of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 5 is a view in horizontal section taken in the plane of the
line 5--5 of FIG. 2 and illustrating a misaligned file of
coins.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in relation to a
coin handling machine which functions to count and package coins of
any denomination. The coin handling machine is of the general type
illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,580 to Buchholz et
al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,675,008 to Buchholz et al., and U.S. Pat. No.
2,669,997 to Quirk et al. Only so much of the coin handling machine
will be described as is necessary for an understanding of the
present invention.
The coin handling machine included a hopper 10 having its bottom
defined by a horizontal disk 11 carried for rotation by a vertical
shaft 12. Generally, coins in the hopper 10 are fed by the rotating
disk 11 to an exit passage 13 at one side of the hopper 10. The
exit passage 13 has an entrance at the edge of the disk 11 which is
defined laterally by an adjustable gauge member 14 and a coin guide
point 15, the latter overlying and spaced slightly above the
periphery of the disk 11. The coin guide point 15 is mounted on the
underside of a side portion of the hopper (not shown). The height
of the exit passage 13 is determined by a thickness gauge strip 16
mounted on the underside of a gate 17 which also overlies the
periphery of the disk 11 and which is vertically adjustable by the
turning of a screw shaft 18 carrying a handle 19 to accommodate
different denominations of coins. While the position of the coin
guide point 15 is fixed, the gauge member 14 is adjustable
laterally by known mechanism (not shown) to vary the width of the
exit opening to handle coins of different denominations.
As the disk 11 rotates in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG.
1, the coins on the disk 11 will be moved outwardly toward the
periphery of the disk 11. The coins are formed into a single file
beneath the thickness gauge strip 16 and the file of coins will be
carried to the entrance 13. If the file of coins is properly
aligned along the periphery of the disk 11, the coins will be
directed seriatim by the coin guide point 15 through the entrance
and into the exit passage 13, where each coin will be engaged by a
rotating ejector wheel 20. The ejector wheel 20 moves each coin
past a star wheel 21 carried on a vertical shaft 22. The star wheel
21 normally blocks the exit passage 13 but is indexed one tooth at
a time as each coin is forced past the star wheel 21 by the ejector
wheel 20. The star wheel shaft 22 is geared to a counter in a known
manner so that the counter records the passage of each coin as the
star wheel 21 is indexed one tooth for the passage of each coin.
The velocity imparted to the coins by the ejector wheel 20 will be
sufficient to move the coins to a discharge chute 23 where they may
be packaged in bags or wrappers, or the like.
The ejector wheel 20, which has a rubber coin contacting face, is
mounted on a drive shaft 24 which carries a pulley 25 connected by
a belt to a pulley on a prime mover shaft (not shown). The drive
shaft 24 is mounted in a rear bearing 26 and a front bearing 27
both of which are carried by a tiltable support 28 mounted to turn
on a pivot shaft 29. The rear bearing 26 is pivotally mounted in
the support 28 by trunnions 30. The front bearing 27 is vertically
slidably mounted in a box assembly 31 formed as a part of the
support 28. A manually adjustable screw shaft 32 is journaled in
the top wall of the box 31 and engaged in a threaded bore of the
front bearing 27. By turning the screw shaft 32, the front bearing
27 is moved in the support 28 about the trunnions 30 to adjust for
wear on the coin contacting face of the ejector wheel 20.
During the operation of the coin handling machine, the ejector
wheel 20 is continuously rotated and the counting and packaging of
coins is halted by raising the ejector wheel 20 so that it cannot
engage coins delivered to the exit passage 13. The counting and
packaging of coins may be halted in such manner automatically when
a predetermined count of coins has been reached, as is well known
from the aforementioned patents. A compression spring 33 is biased
between the underside of the tiltable support 28 and a plate 34 on
the top surface of the machine. The spring 33 urges the front end
of the tiltable support 28 upwardly to place the ejector wheel 20
in its inoperative raised position, and a lever arm 35 connected at
one end to the support 28 is actuatable to pull the support 28
downwardly against the spring 33 to position the ejector wheel 20
in its lowered operative position. The lever arm 35 may be
actuated, for example, by a solenoid (not shown). A stub shaft 36
extends through an elongated opening in the tiltable support 28 and
is threaded into the gate 17 to define upper and lower limits for
the movement of the support 28 and, consequently, for the ejector
wheel 20. What has been described to this point represents no
departure from known coin counting machines.
As previously stated, in the normal operation of the coin counting
machine, the coins of the file are deflected seriatim by the coin
guide point 15 through the entrance and into the exit passage where
they can be engaged by the ejector wheel 20. However, the sharply
serrated edges of the new laminated coins can and do become
interlocked like gear teeth. This interlocking of the edges of the
coins causes a coin which is slightly out of line to be driven
against the coin guide point 15. The trailing edge of such a coin
has its serration interlocked with the serrations of the leading
edge of the succeeding coin. The result is that the file of coins
is bridged across the entrance to the exit opening 13 and the
ejector wheel 20 is unable to engage any coins. Thus, the flow of
coins is effectively halted until the jam is removed. Such a jammed
condition is illustrated in FIG. 5.
To eliminate this problem, a helper wheel 37 is positioned to
contact the lead, out-of-line coin and move it through the exit
opening to be engaged by the ejector wheel 20.
Generally, the helper wheel 37 is supported upon and driven by the
drive shaft 24 for the ejector wheel 20. Specifically, the helper
wheel 37 is mounted for rotation on a shaft 38 secured at the
bottom of a depending leg 39 of a first support bracket 40. Also
mounted on the shaft 38 is a gear 41 which is pinned to the helper
wheel 37 to drive the same as the gear 41 is rotated. The bracket
40 has a horizontal portion 52 which is secured to a horizontal
shelf portion 43 of a second support bracket 44. The second support
bracket 44 has a horizontally extending U-shaped portion formed of
spaced arms 45 and 46 joined by a bight portion 47. The bight
portion 47 spans the box 31. One arm 45 mounts a flange bearing 48
in which the drive shaft 24 is journaled and the other arm 46 has a
bore through which the shaft 24 extends. Thus, the bracket
assembly, comprising the first and second brackets 40 and 44, is
mounted on the shaft 24 and is free to pivot thereon.
A drive gear 49 is keyed to the drive shaft 24 outboard of the arm
46 of the U-shaped portion of the second support bracket 44. The
drive gear 49 meshes with an intermediate gear 50 mounted for
rotation on a stub shaft on the depending leg 39 of the first
bracket 40 above the helper wheel 37. The intermediate gear 50 in
turn meshes with the helper wheel gear 41 so that the helper wheel
37 is drivingly connected to the drive shaft 24. Since the
intermediate gear 50 is mounted on the bracket assembly which, in
turn, is pivotally mounted on the drive shaft 24, the distance
between the centers of the gears 49 and 50 is the same regardless
of the angular position of the bracket assembly relative to the
drive shaft 24. Accordingly, the drive connection between the
helper wheel 37 and the drive shaft 24 is maintained at all
times.
An L-shaped bracket 51 is secured to and projects from the box 31
beneath the joined horizontal portion 42 of the first bracket 40
and the horizontal shelf 43 of the second support bracket 44. An
adjustment screw 52 extends through aligned holes in the joined
horizontal portion 42 and horizontal shelf 43 and a nut 53 is
threaded onto the screw 52. A compression spring 54 is biased
between the head of the screw 52 and the shelf 43 so that the nut
53 is always urged upwardly to bear against the underside of the
shelf 43. The end of the screw 52 is adapted to bear against the
upper surface of the bracket 51 and is urged to such position by a
tension spring 55 connected between the box 31 and the bight
portion 47 of the second support bracket 44.
The tension spring 55 urges the support bracket 44 and,
consequently, the entire helper wheel bracket assembly to pivot
about the ejector wheel shaft 24 to position the periphery of the
helper wheel 37 above the exit passage 13 a distance limited by the
engagement of the adjustment screw 52 against the stop formed by
the L-shaped bracket 51.
In operation, when the ejector wheel 20 is in its lowered,
operative position for the counting the coins, the helper wheel 37
is likewise in its operative position since it is supported
entirely on the drive shaft 24. When in such position, the helper
wheel 37 will engage the lead coin of the single file of coins and
move the lead coin through the exit passage 13 where it can be
engaged by the ejector wheel 20. A continuous stream of coins is
thereby fed to the ejector wheel 20 so long as the ejector wheel 20
is in its lowered, operative position and the coins cannot bridge
the entrance to the exit passage 13. Whenever the ejector wheel 20
is raised to its inoperative position the helper wheel 37 is
likewise raised so that it can no longer engage coins.
The position of the helper wheel 37 above the bottom of the
entrance to the exit passage 13 can be varied by turning the
adjustment screw 52. Adjustment of the height of the helper wheel
37 above the entrance may be employed for any one or more of the
following effects:
a. For initially adjusting the distance between the exit passage
and the periphery of the helper wheel 37 so that the helper wheel
in its lowered, operative position can engage the thinnest coin
being handled (e.g. a dime), with coins of greater thickness being
automatically accommodated by the helper wheel support assembly
pivoting about the ejector wheel shaft 24 against the urging of the
spring 55;
b. For adjusting the vertical distance between the exit passage 13
and the periphery of the helper wheel 37 for the thickness of the
coin of a particular denomination when large quantities of such
denomination are to be handled, so as to minimize wear on the
helper wheel 37;
c. For adjusting the vertical distance between the exit passage 13
and the periphery of the helper wheel 37 to compensate for wear of
the helper wheel 37; and
d. For adjusting the vertical distance between the exit passage 13
and the periphery of the helper wheel 37 when handling large
quantities of coins without serrated edges which do not require the
use of the helper wheel (e.g. nickels and pennies), so that the
helper wheel will be positioned out of engagement with such coins
even when the helper wheel is in its lowered position.
Preferably, the helper wheel 37 is geared to the ejector wheel
shaft 24 so that its peripheral speed is somewhat faster than the
normal flow speed of the file of coins off of the disk 11 and
somewhat slower than the peripheral speed 0f the ejector wheel 20
so that the coins are accelerated at each stage of engagement and
will not back up onto the disk 11. The helper wheel 37 is also
preferably formed with a central flanged hub to which is attached
an annulus formed of a material with a high coefficient of
friction, such as rubber or polyurethane.
The annulus preferably has its edge formed with a transverse taper
of about 5.degree. to enable the coins to flow under the helper
wheel as they approach the entrance to the exit passage. Access may
be gained to the helper wheel 37 for replacing such annulus by
removing the screws which join the support brackets 40 and 44 and
by then bodily removing the first support bracket 40.
* * * * *