Low power coin discrimination apparatus

An apparatus for discrimination of coin objects, including legal currency, tokens and slugs, of regular and irregular shape comprising:

• drop means for causing a coin to fall through a predetermined distance;
• a piezoelectric means for receiving the impact of said coin after it has fallen through said predetermined distance;
• optical means for determining the area of said coin, said area including the area of irregular peripheral projections for non-circular coins and excluding the area of holes or like apertures in the coins whereby the actual area of the coin is accurately measured;
• coin mass detecting means connected to said piezoelectric means for determining the mass of said coin from the impact of said coin on said piezoelectric means, said detecting means including means for rejecting said coin if the mass thereof as determined by the coin mass detecting means does not fall within predetermined limits;
• a power supply means for supplying a voltage V.sub.D to said apparatus when said apparatus is in a dormant state and for supplying voltage V.sub.A to said apparatus when said apparatus is in an active state;
• and,
• circuit energizing means responsive to the presence of said coin in said apparatus for causing said apparatus to assume an active state by applying the voltage V.sub.A to said apparatus in response to the introduction of said coin in said apparatus, said active voltage V.sub.A being greater than said dormant voltage V.sub.D.

An apparatus for discrimination of coin objects, including legal currency, tokens and slugs, of regular and irregular shape comprising:

• drop means for causing a coin to fall through a predetermined distance;
• a piezoelectric means for receiving the impact of said coin after it has fallen through said predetermined distance;
• optical means for determining the area of said coin, said area including the area of irregular peripheral projections for non-circular coins and excluding the area of holes or like apertures in the coins whereby the actual area of the coin is accurately measured;
• said optical area determining means includes:
• optical scanning means for scanning said coin and producing an output proportional to the area of said coin and,
• microprocessor means connected to said optical scanning means for digitally sampling the output from said optical scanning means and storing a value proportional to the maximum excursion of said signal when said coin is scanned by said optical scanning means;
• coin mass detecting means connected to said piezoelectric means for determining the mass of said coin from the impact of said coin on said piezoelectric means, said detecting means including means for rejecting said coin if the mass thereof as determined by the coin mass detecting means does not fall within predetermined limits.

An apparatus for discrimination of coin-like objects, including legal currency, tokens, and slugs, of regular and irregular shape comprising:

• a piezoelectric means for receiving the impact of a coin;
• a coin mass detecting means connected to said piezoelectric means for determining the mass of said coin from the impact of said coin on said piezoelectric means, said coin mass detecting means including an integrating means for integrating an output of said piezoelectric means and producing an output proportional to the mass of said coin;
• optical area detecting means for determining the area of said coin after it contacts said piezoelectric means, said optical area detecting means including an optical scanning means for scanning said coin and producing an output proportional to the area of said coin, said area including the area of irregular peripheral projections for non-circular coins and excluding the area of holes or like apertures in the coins whereby the actual area of the coin is accurately measured;
• and,
• microprocessor means connected to said coin mass detecting means and said optical area detecting means for comparing the outputs from said coin mass detecting means and said optical area detecting means with predetermined value ranges of coin mass and coin area to determine if said coin is valid.

An apparatus for discrimination of coin objects, including legal currency, tokens and slugs, of regular and irregular shape comprising:

• a piezoelectric means for receiving the impact of a coin;
• a coin mass detecting means connected to said piezoelectric means for determining the mass of said coin from the impact of said coin on said piezoelectric means, said coin mass detecting including an integrating means for integrating an output from said piezoelectric means and producing an output voltage P proportional to the mass of said coin;
• optical area detecting means for determining the area of said coin after it contacts said pieezoelectric means, said optical area detecting means including an optical scanning means for scanning said coin and producing an output V.sub.P proportional to the area of said coin, said area including the area of irregular peripheral projections for non-circular coins and excluding the area of holes or like apertures in the coins whereby the actual area of the coin is accurately measured;
• and,
• microprocessor means connected to said optical area detecting means and said coin mass detecting means for producing a ratio A characteristic of a coin wherein ##EQU3## where V.sub.O =the voltge from said optical area detecting means prior to the activation of said optical area detecting means;
• and,
• V.sub.M =the minimum voltage output from said optical area detecting means after the activation of said optical area detecting means;
• and
• V.sub.P =the absolute maximum voltage output from said optical area detecting means as a result of the passage of said coin,
• wherein said microprocessor means compares the value of ratio A and output P with value ranges representative of valid coins to determine if said coin is valid.

A coin discrimination apparatus comprising:

• coin receiving means including a first slot for receiving a coin;
• coin translating means for moving said coin from said coin receiving means to a coin dropping area;
• chute means for receiving said coin from said coin dropping area and for causing said coin to fall a predetermined distance;
• coin mass detecting means located in said chute means for receiving the impact of said coin after it has fallen said predetermined distance;
• and,
• integrating means attached to said coin mass detecting means for integrating an output of said coin mass detecting means and for producing a voltage proportional to the mass of said coin;
• and
• means for rejecting said coin if the mass thereof as determined by the coin mass detecting means does not fall within predetermined limits.