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US 5,285,883 AGranted
Automatic payment device and method for recognizing coins
AssigneeAtoll Technology
InventorsSon Le Hong, Claude Rigolet
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAtoll Technology
InventorsSon Le Hong, Claude Rigolet
Estimating the term…
Coins corresponding to a payment, thrown into a hopper, fall on a recessed disk and each lodge in one of the recesses. If two coins are superposed in one recess, the upper coin is deflected outwardly by a slot and then raised by the inclined bottom of this slot to finally be ejected from the recess. The coins are then, as a function of the result of a detection, oriented toward one or the other of two compartments of an annular display which surrounds the separation disk. At the end of each payment, the annular display turns a fraction of a turn to bring the two compartments into a presentation position, while two empty compartments are presented to receive the following payment, and the coins corresponding to the preceding payment arrive at a transmission position for example toward collection boxes. The drive of the movable portion of the display is effected by its radially outer edge. The central portion comprising the separator disk and its drive motor can swing downwardly to eject foreign bodies In case of a questioned coin, or if the movable portion of the display is in the course of rotation, the coin is returned to the detector instead of proceeding to the display.
Apparatus for automatic payment, comprising a payment (1) having a disk (2) which is provided with recesses (3) to receive coins or tokens and which is movable in rotation to cause the coins or tokens to pass through the field of action of a detector (31) then opposite at least one passage opening toward a display (33) which comprises partitions (68, 69) to define several regions (54a, 54b, 54c) about the disk (2) for display of the coins or tokens, and drive means (81, 82, 77) of the partitions (68, 69) to cause these regions to pass cyclically through a reception position for the coins or tokens away from the separator (1) and a position for transmission of the coins or tokens to a following station, in which the display is an annular display disposed about the disk (2), the drive means effecting the cyclical displacement of said display regions (54a, 54b, 54c).
Process for recognizing objects of the type of coins, in which the objects are caused to pass through the field of action of a detector (31) belonging to a recognition device (1), and as a function of the response of the detector to the passage of each object, the object is selectively directed toward at least one outlet (43, 44) of the recognition device (1) and respectively the object is returned for a second passage through the field of action of the detector (31) and is caused to follow a predetermined cycle at its position is noted in the cycle, then at the end of the second passage the object is sent toward the outlet (43, 44) of the recognition device (1).
Process for recognizing objects of the type of coins, comprising detecting whether the objects are clearly acceptable or clearly unacceptable or ambiguous in that they are neither clearly acceptable objects to one outlet (43) of a recognition device (1), directing said clearly unacceptable objects to another object (44) of said recognition device (1), subjecting said ambiguous objects to a second detection, directing objects found to be ambiguous upon the first detection but found to be clearly acceptable upon said second detection to said one outlet (43), and directing all of the remaining coins subjected to said second detection to said second outlet (44).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.