Coin sorting apparatus

A coin sorting apparatus comprising:

• a coin hopper;
• a coin ramp sloping downwardly from an upper end to a lower end and including a plurality of differently sized apertures formed therethrough, each aperture respectively allowing the passage of coins having a diameter less than a particular value;
• a coin container assembly pivotally movable between the operative and container removal positions comprising at least first and second sets of coin containers, each of said sets of coin containers including a plurality of coin containers, wherein said containers of said second set are respectively positioned adjacent said containers of said first set such that upon one of said containers of said first set being filled with coins, additional coins from said ramp slide over said filled one of said containers of said first set into a corresponding adjacent container of said second set;
• a coin chute assembly including a plurality of coin chutes for respectively conveying coins that Pass through said plurality of apertures of said coin ramp to said first and second sets of containers;
• a rotatable cam acting upon said container assembly such that rotation of said cam pivots said container assembly between said operative and said container removal positions;
• a coin separator mechanism for dispensing coins from said coin hopper onto said ramp, said coin separator mechanism including a motor and a coin separator plate operatively connected to and driven by an output shaft of said motor, said coin separator plate including a plurality of peripheral coin receiving notches, each of said plurality of notches including an inclined trailing edge inhibiting stacking of multiple coins in said notch, whereby, upon rotation of said coin separator plate in response to activation of said motor, coins in said coins hopper are received in said plurality of peripheral notches and are individually carried to and deposited on an upper portion of said coin ramp;
• and,
• a switch for selectively disabling said coin separator mechanism when said container assembly is moved out of said operative position.

A coin sorting apparatus comprising:

• a housing;
• a coin receiving area defined in said housing;
• a downwardly inclined coin ramp including a plurality of differently sized apertures formed therethrough, said apertures sized and arranged such that each aperture allows only the passage of coins less than a particular size;
• a pivotable coin container assembly comprising a plurality of coin containers for receiving sorted coins, said container assembly being pivotable between at least a first and a second position;
• and,
• a cam and follower mechanism comprising a cam and a follower wherein one of said cam and follower is connected to said container assembly and the other of said cam and follower is movably connected to said housing such that upon the movement of said other of said cam and follower, the container assembly pivots between said first and second positions, said cam including first and second dwell points for releasably securing said container in said first and second positions, respectively.

A coin sorting apparatus comprising:

• a coin receiver area;
• an inclined ramp positioned to receive coins from said coin receiver area and including a plurality of coin sorting apertures formed therethrough;
• a coin chute assembly including a plurality of downwardly sloping coin chutes positioned respectively beneath said coin sorting apertures of said ramp, said plurality of chutes each comprising opposed side walls defining a coin exit channel at a lower end of each of said chutes, said coin exit channel being wide enough to allow the unrestricted passage of these relevant sorted coin therethrough;
• at least two substantially similar coin containers positioned respectively beneath each of said plurality of coin chutes to receive and retain in a stack coins from said coin exit channels, wherein said at least two coin containers positioned beneath each of said chutes are so located that coins from said coin chute assembly first fill a first one of said at least two containers through an open upper end thereof and thereafter fill a second one of said at lease two containers through an open upper end thereof;
• and,
• means for removably mounting each coin container on the coin sorting apparatus.

A coin sorting apparatus comprising:

• a coin receiver area;
• an inclined ramp positioned to receive coins from said coin receiver area and including a plurality of coin sorting apertures formed therethrough;
• a coin chute assembly including a plurality of downwardly sloping coin chutes positioned respectively beneath said coin sorting apertures of said ramp, said plurality of chutes each comprising opposed side walls defining a coin exit channel wide enough to allow the passage of the relevant sorted coin therethrough;
• a plurality of coin containers removably positioned in a first row respectively beneath said plurality of coin chutes to receive coins from said coin exit channels;
• a plurality of coin containers removably positioned in a second row located adjacent the containers of the first row;
• means for removably mounting each coin container of said first and second rows of coin containers on the coin sorting apparatus;
• and,
• means for delivering coins from said coin chute assembly to a container in said second row of containers when an adjacent container in said first row of containers is filled.

A coin sorting apparatus comprising:

• a coin hopper to receive a plurality of coins;
• a downwardly sloping ramp including an upper end, a lower end, and a plurality of apertures formed therethrough in order of increasing size toward said ramp lower end;
• a coin separator mechanism for dispensing individual coins from said coin hopper onto an upper part of said ramp;
• a coin chute assembly including a plurality of sloped coin chutes positioned respectively beneath said plurality of apertures formed in said ramp such that a coin passed through one of said apertures is communicated to a corresponding one of said coin chutes;
• a first set of sorted coin containers, each of said sorted coin containers of said first set positioned adjacent a lower end of one of said coin chutes such that coins are communicated from said coin chutes into an open upper end of said sorted coin containers, respectively;
• and,
• a second set of sorted coin containers substantially similar to said first set, each of said sorted coin containers of said second set positioned adjacent a respective like one of said sorted coin containers of said first set, such that an open upper end of each of said sorted coin containers of said second set receives coins from one of said coin chutes when said adjacent container of said first set is filled to capacity with coins, wherein said sorted coin containers of said first and second sets are tilted relative to a vertical axis to facilitate sliding movement of coins over filled containers of said first set and into adjacent containers of said second set.

A method of sorting coins of four different diameters, said method comprising:

• conveying unsorted coins of said four different diameters under force of gravity on a sloped surface;
• passing coins of each of said four different diameters through four different diameter apertures formed through said sloped surface and onto four different sloped coin chutes, respectively;
• passing coins from said four different coin chutes respectively into an open upper end of four different diameter coin containers of a first set of coin containers when said containers of said first set are not filled to capacity with coins;
• and,
• passing coins from said four different coin is chutes respectively into an open upper end of four different diameter containers of a second set of coin containers when said containers of said first set are filled to capacity with coins, said four different coin containers of said first and second sets respectively the same size and shape;
• moving said first and second sets of containers together relative to said coin chutes from a first position for receiving coins from said coin chutes to a second position;
• and,
• individually separating each of the containers from the other containers and inverting each container to empty coins from the open upper end thereof.