BACKGROUND Coin sorting devices for use in different contexts have been produced since the beginning of the 1900s. In a usual basic design similar sorting devices show an often funnel shaped input device in which a quantity of coins is inserted and led to a sorting unit situated under it including a sloping rotatably driven coin disk. Examples of such known sorting machines are shown for instance in the American patents 1 819235,4 147 175,1 813 296,1 794421,5 551 542 and 3 698 537. According to these known solutions the input the coins are received on the coin disk and separated from each other by inserting them one at a time in openings placed directly in the disk near its external circumference. The separation and feed out of the coins from the coin disk is done with the help of comparatively complicated separation devices that take up relatively much space. Thereby these known solutions are especially useful in larger sorting machines of the type that for instance is used in banks for sorting large amounts of coins at a time. Furthermore, the known equipment has the disadvantages that it is sensitive to interference and that it is relatively expensive to manufacture and to maintain.

Recently it has become more usual for instance in shops and petrol stations to rationalise money handling and to do this more safely. A step in this work has been to co- ordinate cash registers with equipment where customers directly insert coins in conjunction with payment. The equipment used today allows only input of coins one by one but it is desired that the customer be able to take an indefinite quantity of coins directly from his or her pocket and feed in these coins without separating them from each other. As mentioned above, in order to handle an indefinite quantity of coins the earlier known solutions have been too bulky to be used practically in store environments where most often there is a requirement that equipment and apparatus must have as small dimensions as possible.

An additional problem in this context is that a coin sorting device that is to be used for coins that are inserted using the described method should present the possibility of feeding out trash and foreign items that can follow with insertion before separation of the coins.

In the field there is therefore a great need of a simple and inexpensive solution of the problem of achieving a suitable sorting and separation of a quantity of input coins in a limited space.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention eliminates the above disadvantages in an effective and appropriate manner.

A general purpose of the invention is to achieve an inexpensive and practically useful solution to the problems that concern piece by piece separation and sorting of coins.

A fundamental purpose of the invention is consequently to find a compact, simple and suitable device in order to effectively separate and sort an indefinite quantity of coins that is inserted into a sorting unit arranged near it via an insertion device. According to the invention this is achieved briefly by a sorting unit with a rotatable sloping coin disk showing at least one penetrating slit. With the help of a bulge co-operating with a cam the coin disk is temporarily lifted up in an area closest to the slit to form a coin shelf on which the inserted coin is supported and inserted into the coin disk's rotation during an accepting phase. This solution achieves a very uncomplicated sorting unit that is dependable, that can be built in relatively tight spaces and that furthermore is inexpensive to manufacture and to maintain.

In a practical embodiment of the invention the coin disk is fixedly connected to a centrally arranged hub, but an area of the disk is variable relative to the hub that has an open coin box opposite the coin disk that in a feed out position is connected to a fixed feed out channel. Thus an effective output of each separated coin is achieved.

According to an embodiment of the invention the slit is curved and bent in a direction generally opposite the rotation direction and joins a back edge of the coin box directly to the slit. Thus the desired separation of the coins is achieved in an effective way.

According to another embodiment of the invention the coin disk has at least a couple of slits arranged diametrically opposed. This embodiment makes it possible to increase the sorting unit's capacity.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention the front hub extends out past the coin disk in its non-lifted mode, whereby reliable transfer of coins from the coin shelf to the coin box is achieved.

According to other practical embodiments of the invention the coin disk as well as the cam disk that supports the cam has a generally circular form and the cam disk is arranged parallel to the coin disk below it. The cam disk's cam extends across some of the disks' circumference that corresponds to a coin accepting phase. According to an embodiment the cam is arranged inside the coin disk's external circumference and extends over almost half the coin disk's circumference, from about 3 o'clock to about 8 o'clock.

In order to achieve reliable support of the coins on the coin shelf, according to yet another embodiment of the invention it is suggested that the cam have a height such that on connection to the corresponding bulge it lifts the coin disk by an amount that equals at least half the thickness of the thickest coin that is accepted by the apparatus.

In a practical embodiment the hub is fixedly supported on an axle that is rotatably mounted in the cam disk fixed in the sorting unit.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a method of achieving the desired separation and sorting of coins in a reliable and effective way.

According to another aspect of the invention a method is therefore suggested where in compliance with the invention's basic principles a sorting of coins is achieved in an insertion device where coins are led into a sloping coin disk rotating in one direction.

According to this aspect of the invention the coin disk is slit from its external circumference to its internal circumference at at least one location and is lifted up temporarily in a lifting area behind the slit during an accepting phase of its rotation. Thereby a coin shelf is formed carrying a number of inserted coins, whereby the thus supported coins are inserted into the rotation during the accepting phase.

Embodiments of this aspect of the invention are made clear by the accompanying dependent claims.

These and other purposes of the invention have been achieved by the invention such as it is defined in the attached patent claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Further purposes, characteristics and advantages of the invention are clear from the patent claims and from the following description with reference to the attached figures where Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a sorting device according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial, partly sectioned side view of the sorting device of the embodiment according to fig. 1 shown in a first or reception phase; Fig. 3 is a view corresponding to fig. 2 showing a sorting device in a second or accepting phase; Fig. 4 is a plane view of a rotatable disk in the sorting device according to the invention; Fig. 5 A-D are schematic illustrations corresponding to fig. 4 and show the rotatable disk in the sorting device according to the invention at different rotation positions corresponding to the different phases for reception, accepting and feeding out coins, respectively, Fig. 6 A is a view corresponding to figs. 4,5 A and D illustrating a feed out of trash by the rotating disk in the sorting device according to the invention; Fig. 6 B shows the detail B-B in fig. 6 A on an expanded scale; Fig. 7 A-B are schematic illustrations corresponding to fig. 4 and 5 A-D and show a modified embodiment of a sorting device according to the invention at different rotation positions; and Fig. 8 shows a partial section through the sorting device according to fig. 7 A-B on an expanded scale.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS The invention and its basic principles will now described with reference to the partly schematic illustrations in figs. 1-4 and 5 A-D. In fig. 1 a sorting device 1 according to the invention is shown consisting of an input shaft 2 that is generally open at its upper end 2A and that at its lower end 2B is covered by a sorting unit 3 and its housing 4. The sorting unit 3 contains a coin disk 5 rotatable in an anticlockwise direction R (see fig. 4) that is arranged sloping and that in principle closes the input shaft's 2 lower end 2B with a first or top side 18.

The coin disk 5 is generally ring shaped and manufactured of steel plate with a thickness that gives the disk a certain flexibility, for reasons that will b e made clear below. In practical experiments a steel plate with a thickness of about 1.5 mm was used, but this measurement is dependent on the thickness of the sorted coins and is given only for exemplifying purposes without the invention's being somehow limited to this.

The coin disk 5 is provided with two diametrically opposed opposite slits 16,17 that extend and penetrate from its external circumference 5A to its internal circumference 5B. The slits 16,17 have a generally curved form, bent in a direction generally opposite the rotation direction R, i. e. in a clockwise direction. On the side or underside 19 turned away from the input shaft 2, at a small distance in a clockwise direction from the respective slit 16,17, i. e. in the rotation direction R immediately behind the respective slit, the coin disk 5 is provided

with bulges I I A and 11B that are intended to co-operate with a cam 10 on a rotatable cam disk 9 described below.

The internal circumference 5B of the coin disk joins a hub 6 with which it is non- rotatably connected, apart from in a lift area 5C (shown schematically in fig. 4) that as seen in the rotation direction R lies behind the respective slits 16,17 and where the coin disk 5 consequently is free to move with respect to the hub 6. The purpose of this embodiment is to allow a lift explained below in the form of an elastic deformation of this area of the coin disk in a phase of its rotation. The hub 6 extends forward a bit past the coin disk's 5 top side 5A when it is in its non-lifting position, and the reason for this will also be clarified below. In proximity to the slits'16,17 ends at the internal circumference 5B of the coin disk 5 the hub has coin boxes 6A and 6B in the form of recesses with about the shape of the biggest accepted coin 12 (see fig. 3). The coin boxes 6A, 6B are open outwards toward the coin disk 5 immediately in front of the respective slits 16,17 as seen in the rotation direction R. In other words, a back edge of the coin boxes 6A, 6B joins up directly, in line with the respective slits 16,17. As indicated in figs. 3 and 4 the coin boxes 6A and 6B are in a feed out position in connection with a feed out channel 20 that is fixedly mounted in the sorting unit 3 and consequently does not rotate with the coin disk 5. The coins fed out from the coin boxes are led through a feed out channel 20 for instance to an apparatus for determining the individual coin's 12 value.

The hub 6 is in turn fixedly supported on an axle 9A that with the help of the bearing 9B indicated in fig. 2 i s rotatably mounted in a strong c am disk 9 fixedly mounted i n t he housing 4. The cam disk 9 is similarly arranged sloping, essentially parallel to the coin disk 5 and designed to be generally circular and arranged at a distance underneath the coin disk 5.

Further, on its upper side turned toward the coin disk 5 it has a cam 10 that extends over almost half the disks'5, 9 circumference, from about"3 o'clock"to about"8 o'clock", corresponding to a coin reception phase described below. The cam 10 has a height such that on rotating the coin disk 5 the bulges 11 A, 11 B come into contact with it in the coin accepting phase and achieve the said lift or elastic bump of the coin disk 5.

The hub 6, and thereby the disk 5, are made to rotate by a motor 7, for instance an electric motor, and in the embodiment shown in fig. 2 the drive is through a transmission 8 consisting of a pair of co-operating, not more specifically designated cogwheels. Alternately the transmission can consist of a chain or a belt or also the hub 6 can rest directly on the motor's output axle.

The method proposed according to the invention in order to sort coins piece by piece using the described sorting apparatus will now be described with special reference to figs. 2-4 and 5A-5D. Unsorted coins 12 are fed in the direction IR through the insertion device's 2 open upper end 2A that in principle is big enough to allow a handful of coins 12 to be taken directly from a trouser pocket and put into the input device 2. Thereby trash and foreign materials such as paperclips 13, buttons 14, pastilles 15 and so on can also get into the input device 2.

These items can be sorted and be taken care of in a way that is described below, in conjunction with fig. 6A and 6B.

The c oins 12 or 12A-D (see fig. 5A-D) inserted into the input device 2 arrive t o begin with in principle furthest down at the coin disk's 5 outer edge 5A, as indicated in fig. 2.

More specifically, the coins 12 lie in this position as long as the coin disk 5 is entirely smooth, i. e. as long as it is in a position where neither of the bulges 1 lA or 11B is in contact with the cam 10, see fig. 5C. As soon as the coin disk 5 is rotated to a position corresponding to a reception phase (figs. 3, 5A and 5D) one of bulges, here the bulge 11B, comes into contact with the cam 10 positioned directly under it so that the coin disk 5 is deformed elastically.

More specifically, the disk 5 is lifted in the lift area 5C behind slit 16 highlighted in fig. 4 so that the slit constitutes a coin shelf 16A on which the input coins 12A-D can be supported and moved with the disk's rotation R and lifted upwards during the accepting phase. This is clear in particular from fig. 3 that shows a partial section through the coin disk 5 along the line A-A in fig. 4. At slit 16 therefore the coin disk 5 is lifted up an amount that in principle equals the steel plate's thickness, and in order that the coin 12 can definitely follow with the coin disk rotation its plate thickness should be at least equal to half the thickness of the thickest of the accepted coins 12.

On the coin disk's 5 continued rotation R the inserted coins 12A-C that can be held on the coin shelf 16A are moved up (fig. 5A, 5B) while the other coins 12D are left furthest down and are possibly taken up by the next coin shelf when the bulge l lA moves up on the cam 10. When the coin disk 5 reaches the end of this receiving phase, i. e. immediately before the bulge 11 B leaves the cam 10, the coin shelf 16A is directed so that the the coins 12A-C carried on it roll in against the hub 6 due to their weight, and the first coin 12A goes into the hub's 6 corresponding coin box 6B. Because the hub 6 is higher than the coin disk 5 in its unaffected position a reliable transition from the coin shelf 16A to the coin box 6B is achieved. Immediately thereafter the bulge 6B leaves the cam 10, which means that the coin disk 5 lifting area 5C springs back so that the coin shelf 16A disappears and the then remaining coins 12B-C once again fall down (fig. 5C) to the bottommost area of the coin disk

5. The coin disk 5 is rotated further with the first coin 12A received in the coin box 6B until it reaches a feed out position that is shown in fig. 5D. In this rotation position the coin box 6B coincides with the position of the coin channel 20 arranged under it so that the coin falls down in the coin channel 20 which moves it for instance to equipment for determining its value.

Simultaneously the second bulge 1 lA grips the cam 10 so that the next coin shelf is formed at slit 17 and takes a number of the remaining coins 12B-D with it to the next coin reception phase. In this way the accepting and feed out phases are repeated until all the inserted coins are fed out, after which the coin disk rotation can be stopped manually or by appropriate sensors not specified here.

With the help of the above account it is clear that by using the invention's principles described above it is possible to achieve sorting of the individual coins in a very simple and reliable way. In particular, the sorting device according to the invention can be built very compactly so that it requires a very small space and can easily be mounted in coin handling devices where known solutions would be bulky. Furthermore, the invention entails that the sorting device is comparatively uncomplicated and thereby inexpensive to manufacture as well as to maintain.

The principles proposed according to the invention for coin sorting also allow a very advantageous feed out of trash and foreign items entirely separate from the separated out coins. In a further development shown in fig. 6A and 6B the sorting device 1 is supplemented with a scrap feed out channel 21 that is placed in proximity to the coin disk's 5 external circumference 5A and that is fixedly attached to the housing 4, that is, it does not rotate with the coin disk. Trash and foreign items 13-15 of the above mentioned type that are carried by the coin shelf are carried by it until in the area of the scrap feed out channel 21 they fall out through recesses 22 placed in the coin disk's outer edge 5A and are carried away in the scrap feed out channel. Thus these items can be held on and directly fed out from the coin disk's external circumference without accompanying the separated coins.

In figs. 7 A-B and 8 an alternative embodiment of the sorting device according to the invention is shown very schematically. In this other embodiment separation and removal of the coins is done according to the same fundamental principles as described above with reference to the first embodiment. Consequently details that correspond to the first embodiment have been given the same reference numbers plus one hundred in figs. 7 A-B and 8. On the other hand the second embodiment has been carried out with a modified feed out whose principles are shown in figs. 7 A-B and 8.

Even if the invention has been described above with reference to the specific embodiments that are shown in the figures, it should be underlined that this also includes other variants that use the invention's basic principles. Therefore within the scope of the invention it is similarly possible to utilise a coin disk with only one slit and corresponding bulge, even if this of course impacts negatively on the capacity. Similarly, within reasonable bounds it is possible to instead increase the capacity by arranging more than two slits and corresponding bulges. Neither is the invention either limited to some specific measurements of the coin disk thickness or of the distance by which it temporarily rises up during the accepting phase, since these measurements are specific for each application. Further, the input device has been shown with a generally cylindrical form, but it should be underlined that it can have a funnel form or any other shape that allows suitable input of the coins.

An expert understands that different modifications and changes can be made to the present invention without departing from the invention's scope as it is defined by the attached patent claims.