Coin discriminator and acceptor arrangement
US5379875A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 14, 1994 |
| Grant date | Jan 10, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 14, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG07D5/02
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Discrimination between genuine coins and unacceptable coins (i.e., slugs) deposited in a coin-actuated vending machine, is achieved by guiding a deposited coin for movement along a guide path, and positioning a disk-shaped coil which forms part of an oscillator circuit at a certain position relative to the first guide path such that coins of certain diameters will interact with flux produced by the coil when the latter is excited by the oscillator circuit and the coins are guided in proximity with the coil. Amplitude and frequency values each corresponding to operation of the oscillator circuit (1) in the absence of a proximate coin, and (2) when a deposited coin is at positions along the first guide path which are in proximity with the coil, are measured. Degrees of shift in the amplitude and the frequency values between measurements made at (1) and (2) are then determined. The determined degrees of shift are compared against known shift limits for acceptable (i.e., genuine) coins of interest, and an accept condition for a deposited coin is judged according to the comparison result.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.