Coin acceptance method and apparatus
US5566807A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 3, 1995 |
| Grant date | Oct 22, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 3, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG07F5/24
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and apparatus for accepting coins of denominations that have and do not have coin tubes for making change in a coin mechanism is described. One aspect of the invention concerns a method for calculating an overpay amount. The overpay amount is set to equal the value of the lowest value coin with a tube minus the value of the lowest value non-tubed coin. Thus, when the lowest value coin tube is empty a vending machine customer will be permitted to insert low value, non-tubed coins up to the overpay value to increase the likelihood of enabling a vend of an item to take place. Another aspect of the invention relates to the acceptance of high-valued, non-tubed coins. The high-value non-tubed coins are acceptable if adequate change exists in the coin tubes to payback their value plus the value of any existing credit, if their value plus any credit value is greater than the maximum vend price, and if each of the vend prices in the vending machine permit adequate change to be returned to the customer.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.