Toy bank with novel coin discriminating mechanism

An electronic toy bank having a coin discriminating apparatus for discriminating between coins of varying diameters, said mechanism including:

• a. a housing having coin slot means in a surface thereof for receiving therein a coin inserted into the housing, said slot means including two generally flat, spaced walls defining therebetween the width of a coin passageway, and two relatively narrow spaced sides defining therebetween the breadth of the passageway;
• b. a movable slide disposed within the passageway and being normally biased toward a resting position at least partially obstructing the breadth of the passageway and being movable in response to insertion of a coin, said movement being in a direction not parallel to a first line defined by a first point of contact between a coin and the slide and a second point of contact between the coin and said first side of the passageway, said points of contact being identified when the slide is maximally displaced by the coin;
• the breadth of the passageway increasing immediately inwardly of said first line, providing a snap-action to thrust the coin inwardly;
• c. detection means operatively connected to said slide and detecting movement of the slide and relating said movement to coin diameter so that when a coin is inserted through the passageway between the slide and a first of said sides, the slide is displaced a distance related to the coin diameter, which displacement is detected by the detection means and related to the coin size;
• d. the detection means including a wiper switch mechanism comprising a contact surface and a movable wiper contact mechanically linked to the slide and in electrically conductive contact with the contact surface, said surface including a plurality of conductive segments each corresponding to a particular coin size;
• and
• e. display means associated with the housing and interconnected with the detection means for displaying the value of the coin being inserted.