Dispensed Money Counting Device In A Money Dispenser

Abstract

A device for counting money dispensed (hereinafter referred to as a dispensed money counting device) out of a money dispenser comprising: counters provided separately according to the denominations of the money to be dispensed and gate circuits adapted to control the counters whereby it is confirmed that the sum of money dispensed out of the money dispenser is equal to that selected in advance.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to money dispensers and more particularly to a dispensed money counting device thereof.

Generally, in a money dispenser, a command for dispensing money is effected by depressing the push-buttons for storing a sum of money to be dispensed out of the money dispenser. However, when money is dispensed with a desired monetary denomination and a desired number of pieces thereof from such a money dispenser, it is necessary to confirm or recognize that the sum of money actually dispensed out of the money dispenser coincides with the sum of money designated or stored by the command described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly a first object of the invention to provide a dispensed money counting device in a money dispenser by which it is confirmed that a sum of money actually dispensed out of the money dispenser is equal to that selected in advance.

A second object of the invention is to provide a disposed money counting device in a money dispenser in which counting of a number of pieces of money actually dispensed out of the money dispenser is carried out, and the result of the counting is utilized to produce output signals which indicate the sum of money dispensed therefrom whereby confirmation of the result of the counting against the sum of money selected in advance is effected readily and reliably.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a dispensed money counting device in a money dispenser which comprises counters provided separately according to the denominations of money to be dispensed out of the money dispenser, gate circuits for delivering counting pulse signals each produced whenever a piece of money is dispensed out of the money dispenser to one of the counters which is provided for the denomination of money to be dispensed out of the money dispenser, and gate circuits adapted to perform carryovers each being provided between the counters, whereby contents counted by the counters are utilized to yield output signals which indicate the digits of a sum of money dispensed.

The foregoing objects and other objects will become more apparent from the following detailed description with respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention and the appended claims when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a dispensed money counting device provided according to the invention in a money dispenser, and

FIG. 2 is a table of binary numbers and output levels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1 there is shown one example of the dispensed money counting device of the invention which is employed in a money dispenser operating to dispense paper money of, for example 500 yen, 1,000 yen, 5,000 yen, and 10,000 yen.

Before the invention is described in detail, the organization and operation of the money dispenser will be outlined. The money dispenser has a money-stocking drum which is used to stock paper money pieces or bank notes to be dispensed. The money-stocking drum is divided into several money-stocking frames where bank notes separated according to monetary denominations to be dispensed are stocked in such a manner that a first money-stocking frame stocks, for example, 500 yen bank notes, a second one stocks 1,000 yen bank notes, and so forth.

Whenever one monetary denomination is designated by means of a function key, the money-stocking drum begins to rotate, and the rotation of the money-stocking drum is stopped when the money-stocking frame containing the bank notes of the monetary denomination thus designated coincidentially reaches a position where the bank notes are to be dispensed, namely, a money-dispensing position. As a result, the money dispenser produces a coincidence signal, which signifies the completion of the designation of the monetary denomination. Thus, the money dispenser will produce the coincidence signals Sa, Sb, Sc and Sd for all of the monetary denominations to be dispensed, that is, in this case 500 yen, 1,000 yen, 5,000 yen and 10,000 yen, respectively. Furthermore, when a key for starting the dispensation of money is depressed after the designation of the monetary denominations has been completed, the bank notes are dispensed from the money-stocking drum, and a counting pulse signal Cp is produced whenever one bank note is dispensed.

The dispensed money counting device M of the invention comprises a plurality of counters Ka, Kb, Kc and Kd provided separately according to the monetary denominations. Each of the counters operates to count the number of sheets of a bank note of a particular denomination. In other words, the counter Ka is provided for 500 yen bank notes and comprises a binary counter such as a one-stage flip-flop circuit. The counter Kb is provided for 1,000 yen bank notes and comprises a quinary counter such as a three-stage flip-flop circuit. The counter Kc is provided for 5,000 yen bank notes and also comprises a binary counter such as a one-stage flip-flop circuit. The counter Kd is provided for 10,000 yen bank notes and comprises two cascade-connected decimal counters Kd.sub.1 and Kd.sub.2, each being, for instance, a four-stage flip-flop circuit.

The dispensed money counting device M further comprises a plurality of AND gates Aa, Ab, Ac and Ad, which deliver counting inputs respectively in correspondence with the counters Ka, Kb, Kc and Kd.

When the above-described signals Sa, Sb, Sc and Sd are introduced, as control signals, through the input terminals Ta, Tb, Tc and Td to the AND gates Aa, Ab, Ac and Ad, respectively, the AND gates Aa, Ab, Ac and Ad are respectively opened. Under these conditions, when the counting pulse Cp, from a pulse generator which is produced whenever one bank note is dispensed through a bank-note-dispensing outlet as described before, is introduced to an input terminal Tcp, the counting pulse is applied through the AND gate Aa to an input terminal S of the counter Ka, through both the AND gate Ab and an OR gate Ob to an input terminal CP of the counter Kb, through the AND gate Ac and an OR gate Oc to an input terminal S of the counter Kc, and through both the AND gate Ad and an OR gate Od to an input terminal CP of the first counter Kd.sub.1 of the counter Kd.

The dispensed money counting device M further comprises a plurality of AND gates Ba, Bb, and B which are employed for "carry-overs". The AND gates Ba, Bb and Bc are provided for the counters Ka, Kb and Kc, but such an AND gate is not provided for the counter Kd that is for the highest monetary denomination, that is, 10,000 yen in this case.

An output F of the counter Ka is applied to the AND gate Ba thereby to control or open the latter. Under this condition, the output F is at a high level (that is, the counter has counted two pulses), and the counting pulse Cp obtained through the AND gate Aa is applied through the OR gate Ob to the counter Kb. The AND gate Bb is formed by two AND gates Bb.sub.1 and Bb.sub.2 to which outputs M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 of the counter Kb are applied thereby to control or open the AND gate Bb. Under this condition, when all of these outputs M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 are at a high level (that is, the counter Kb has counted five pulses), the counting pulse Cp obtained through the gate Bb is applied through the OR gate Oc to the counter Kc. An output F of the counter Kc is applied to the gate Bc thereby to control or open the latter, and when this output F of the counter Kc is at a high level (that is, the counter Kc has counted two pulses), the counting pulse Cp obtained through the gate Bc is applied through the OR gate O.sub.d to the counter Kd.

Furthermore, the disposed money counting device M comprises digit output terminals Tr, Ts, Tt and Tu which respectively correspond to the digits of a sum of money dispensed out of the money dispenser, namely, the digits of "100", "1,000", "10,000" and "100,000" in the decimal number system. Each of the output terminals Tr, Ts, Tt and Tu has binary code terminals "1", "2", 4" and "8".

The output terminal Tr for the digit of 100 is connected to the output side of an encoder Er, which receives the output F of counter Ka. When the output F of the counter Ka is at the low level, an output signal 0000 is produced at the output terminal Tr, and when the output F is at the high level, an output signal 0101 is produced at the output terminal Tr. These output signals will be referred to as output signals Vr for the digit of 100.

The output terminal Ts for the digit of 1,000 is connected to the output side of an encoder Es which receives the outputs M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 of the counter Kb and the output F of the counter Kc. When the outputs M.sub.1, M.sub.2, M.sub.3 and F obtain the levels shown in the left column of FIG. 2, outputs signals shown in the right column of FIG. 2 is obtained, as output signals Vs for the digit of 1,000, at the output terminal Ts.

The output terminals Tt and Tu are connected respectively to the output sides of the counters Kd.sub.1 and Kd.sub.2. Output signals from the counters Kd.sub.1 and Kd.sub.2 are obtained, as output signals V.sub.t and Vu respectively for the digits of 10,000 and 100,000, at the output terminals T.sub.t and Tu, respectively.

FIG. 1 further shows an input terminal TR, which receives resetting signals. The input terminals TR for instance serves to apply simultaneously a resetting signal R obtained when the money dispenser has completed its operation of dispensing money, to the resetting terminals R of the counters Ka, Kb Kc and Kd.

In the case where, for instance, 25, sheets of 10,000 yen bank notes are to be dispensed out of the money dispenser, the dispensed money counting device operates as follows.

First, the designation of the monetary denomination 10,000 yen is carried out, and the money-stocking drum is accordingly rotated until the money-stocking frame containing 10,000 yen bank-notes only arrives at the money dispensing position, as a result of which the previously-described coincidence signal Sd of the high level is obtained at the terminal Td thereby to open the gate Ad. On the other hand, the sum of money to be dispensed, namely 250,000 is stored in a register which operates to store a sum of money to be dispensed out of the money dispenser.

Under these conditions, the money dispenser begins to dispense 10,000 yen bank notes, and the counting pulses Cp are introduced through the AND gate Ad to the first counter Kd.sub.1 of the counter Kd, where the pulses Cp are counted. Whenever 10 of the counting pulses Cp are counted by the first counter Kd.sub.1, a carry-over is effected to the second counter Kd.sub.2. Thus, when 25 pulses Cp have been counted by the counter Kd, an output 0010 (2 in the decimal system) is obtained at the output terminal Tu of the counter Kd.sub.2, while an output 0101 (5 in the decimal system) is obtained at the output terminal Tt of the counter Kd.sub.1. In this case, since the other counters Ka, Kb and Kc stop their counting operations, the output signals at the output terminals Tr and Ts are 0000. Thus, the binary-coded output which corresponds to 250,000 in the decimal system is produced as a counting output of the dispensed money counting device M.

The binary-coded output thus yielded is compared with the contents (250,000) stored in the register described before. After it is confirmed that the binary-coded output is in coincidence with the contents of the register, the money dispensing operation of the money dispenser is stopped.

In the case when, for instance, five sheets of 5,000 yen bank notes are dispensed from the money dispenser, the dispensed money counting device M operates as follows.

Similarly as in the case described above, a coincidence signal Sc of the high level is obtained at the terminal Tc thereby to open the gate Ac only. In this case, whenever the counter Kc counts two of the counting pulses Pc, the AND gate Bc is opened, and the two pulses thus counted are carried-over through the AND gate Bc. Accordingly, when five counting pulses Cp are introduced to the counter Kc, an output 0010 (2 in the decimal system) is obtained at the output terminal Tt of the counter Kd.sub.1. On the other hand, all of the outputs M.sub.1, M.sub.2 and M.sub.3 of the counter Kb remain high in level, and the output F of the counter Kc becomes low in level, as a result of which an output 0101 (5 in the decimal system) is obtained at the terminal Ts, as is shown in FIG. 2. Thus, the binary-coded output which represents 25,000 in the decimal system is produced as a counting output of the dispensed money counting device M.

Similarly as in the two cases described above, when, for instance, 16 sheets of 1,000 yen bank notes are to be dispensed out of the money dispenser, outputs 0001 (1 in the decimal system) and 0110 (6 in the decimal system) are obtained at the output terminals Tt and Ts, respectively. In the case when, for instance, eleven sheets of 500 yen bank notes are dispensed out of the money dispenser, an output 0101 (5 in the decimal system) is obtained at the output terminals Ts, while an output 0101 (5 in the decimal system) is obtained at the output terminal Tr.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the invention the number of sheets of bank notes dispensed out of the money dispenser is counted, and the result of this counting is utilized to produce output signals which represent the digits of the sum of money which is the product of the number of sheets of bank notes to be dispensed out of the money dispenser and the monetary denomination of the bank notes, whereby the sum of money actually dispensed out of the money dispenser can be readily compared with the sum of money stored in the register. This is one of the advantages of the dispensed money counting device of the invention.

The above-described example of the invention is for the case where the monetary units are yen; however it will be clear that the invention can be applied to money dispensers which will dispense other kinds of money. Moreover, it will also be clear that the number of counters can be increased or descreased according to the number of monetary denominations to be dispensed.

Claims

We claim:

1. A counting device for use in a money dispenser for counting the monetary pieces of a sum of money comprising a particular denomination dispensed therefrom, which dispenser delivers coincidence signals each one representative of the fact that the particular designated monetary denomination out of a chosen series of monetary denominations, is ready to be dispensed therefrom, said device comprising:

a plurality of counting means the number of which corresponds to the number of monetary denominations in said chosen series, each being adapted to count the number of monetary pieces of respective ones of said chosen series being dispensed during a dispensing operation of the dispenser;

a plurality of first gate circuits, each one being operatively associated with respective ones of said counting means and a pulse generator for generating output pulses each pulse indicating the dispensation of a monetary piece of a particular monetary denomination, each of said first gate circuits being operatively responsive to respective ones of said coincidence signals, so that when the number of monetary pieces of a particular monetary denomination comprising the sum of money required to be dispensed, are ready to be dispensed from the dispenser the coincidence signal representative of that fact is delivered through that one of said gate circuits to that one of said counting means adapted to count the dispensation of monetary pieces of said particular monetary denomination, and each time one of said monetary pieces is thereafter dispensed from the dispenser an output pulse is delivered from said generator through that said one of said gate circuits and counted by said that one of said counting means;

a plurality of second gate circuits each being operatively associated with respective ones of said plurality of first gate circuits and said plurality of counting means for carrying-over counted contents comprising a predetermined number of monetary pieces of the sum of money to be dispensed in a particular one of said counting means to another counting means which is adapted to count the pieces of the next higher monetary denomination in said chosen series said particular one of said counting means then counting the remaining number of monetary pieces in the sum of money to be dispensed whereby said another counting means, said particular one of said counting means and the others of said plurality of counting means provide output signals respectively indicating the digits of the sum of money to be dispensed.

2. A dispensed money counting device as claimed in claim 1 in which said counters comprise flip-flop circuits, said first gate circuits for delivering counting pulse signals are AND gates, and each of said second gate circuits for carry-overs comprises and AND gate and an OR gate thereby to carry out said carry-over operation.