Apparatus and method for coin diameter computation
AssigneeGeneral Signal Corporation
InventorsMichael Roberts, Gregory Slobodzian
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for recognizing coin diameters and for computing the cumulative value of coins, including an arrangement for determining the velocity of the coins under free fall conditions by measuring (1) the time taken by a given coin to traverse a fixed distance, namely, a gap between the levels at which a first and second array of detectors are disposed; further including an arrangement for measuring (2) the time between a first event when the coin reaches, for example, said first level and a second event when the coin leaves the first level, the time interval between events being representative of the diameter of the coin; and additionally including an arrangement for computing the diameter from the two time measurements.
Claims18
A system for recognizing the diameters of objects such as coins and the like, comprising:
- means for determining the velocity of the objects, under free-fall conditions and regardless of the particular velocity initially assumed by the objects, by measuring a first time interval taken by a given object to traverse a fixed distance between two levels;
- means for measuring a second time interval during which one of said levels is passed by the object;
- and
- means for unambiguously computing the diameter of the object by algebraically combining the measurements of the two time intervals.
A method for recognizing the diameters of objects such as coins and the like comprising the steps of:
- determining the velocity of the objects, under free fall conditions and regardless of the particular velocity initially assumed by the objects, by measuring a first time interval taken by a given object to traverse a fixed distance between two levels;
- measuring a second time interval between a first event when the object reaches one of said levels and a second event when the object leaves that level;
- and
- computing the diameter of the object by algebraically combining the measurements of the two time intervals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.