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US 5,392,891 AGranted
Apparatus and method for discriminating coins based on metal content
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsChristopher Ferguson, J. Scott Petty
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for discriminating coins based on their metal or ferrous content. Coins are transported by a rotary mechanism that stops when a coin is accurately positioned with respect to an adjacent metal sensor. The metal sensor is then activated to provide a measurement signal of the coin in the repeatable stationary position. A plurality of measurements may preferably be taken and averaged to increase the accuracy.
Claims10
A coin metal content discriminating device comprising:
- a metal content sensor;
- means for transporting a received coin to a stationary position adjacent to said metal content sensor wherein said transporting means comprises a motor driven rotary disk having a coin receiving notch to carry the coin on a predetermined arcuate path to the position adjacent to the metal sensor;
- and
- means for activating said metal content sensor to provide an output signal corresponding to the metal content of the coin in the stationary position.
1 more element
A method of discriminating the metal content of a coin received through a coin insert slot, comprising the steps of:
- transferring the coin to a stationary position adjacent to a metal sensor wherein the transferring step comprises the steps of receiving the coin in a notch of a rotary disk, and rotating the disk using a motor to carry the coin to the stationary position adjacent to the metal sensor;
- and
- activating the metal sensor to provide an output signal corresponding to the metal content of the coin in the stationary position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.