| 1. | Apparatus for use in changing coins or notes of one denomination into coins of a second, usually lower, denomination, the apparatus including a reservoir of the coins of the second denomination, the reservoir, having an outlet, a motorised conveyor belt below the reservoir outlet to convey coins from the reservoir to a coin payout unit, and control means arranged to sense the level of coins in the payout unit and to cause an appropriate number of coins to be released from the reservoir outlet on to the conveyor belt to move coins from the reservoir to the pay out unit when the control unit senses that the content of coins in the payment unit is less than a predetermined amount. |
| 2. | Apparatus according to Claim 1 , wherein the control unit is connected to sensing means associated with the payout unit which senses when the level of coins in the payout unit falls below the predetermined level. |
| 3. | Apparatus according to Claim 1 , wherein the number of coins conveyed by the conveyor is related to the power of the motor driving the conveyor unit. |
| 4. | Apparatus according to any preceding Claim, wherein the reservoir has a substantially greater volume than the payout unit. |
| 5. | Apparatus for changing coins, notes or tokens of one denomination into coins or tokens of a second denomination, the apparatus comprising a primary reservoir containing a primary supply of said coins or tokens of the second denomination, and a secondary reservoir isolated from and below the level of an outlet of the primary reservoir adapted to receive a secondary supply of coins or tokens dispensed from the primary reservoir according to sensor means associated with the secondary reservoir adapted to control the level of coins or tokens in said secondary reservoir, wherein coins or tokens are dispensed from an outlet of said secondary reservoir to a user coin or token collection area. |
In known apparatus there is a coin reservoir and a coin payout unit usually called a hopper. There is a need for the payout unit to contain many coins because of the demand and this imposes a heavy weight on the payout unit which causes various operational problems. The weight pressure can also cause motor and payout jams due to the weight pressure of the coins pushing down on the hopper. Slow operation of the hopper is also caused by weight pressure and component failure of the hopper is also caused by the weight pressure. It is an object of this invention to provide means for easing the weight of coins in the payout unit but at the same time being able to replenish it on demand.
According to the invention in one aspect there is provided apparatus for use in changing coins or notes of one denomination into coins of a second, usually lower, denomination, the apparatus including a reservoir of the coins of the second denomination, the reservoir having an outlet, a motorised conveyor belt below the reservoir outlet to convey coins from the reservoir to a coin payout unit, and control means arranged to sense the level of coins in the payout unit and to cause an appropriate number of coins to be released from the reservoir outlet on to the conveyor belt to move coins from the reservoir to the pay out unit when the control unit senses that the content of coins in the payment unit is less than a predetermined amount.
Preferably the control unit is connected to sensing means associated with the payout unit which senses when the level of coins in the payout unit falls below the predetermined level. The sensing means may operate by optically or by weight or in any other suitable way.
The number of coins conveyed by the conveyor is related to the power of the motor driving the conveyor unit. The conveyor may be a belt, a chain, a solenoid activated plate that pushes the coin instead of conveying it or any other suitable material or device to transfer coin from the reservoir to the hopper.
Preferably the reservoir has a substantially greater volume than the payout unit.
In order that the invention may be well understood it will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a block diagram showing a layout of apparatus of the invention, and Figure 2 is an end view of a conveyor belt about to drop coins into the payout unit.
The apparatus comprises an inlet (not shown) for a note or coin to be changed. This is connected to a verifying unit comprising a coin 18 or bank note 19 validator which accepts or rejects the received money. If the money is accepted an electrical signal is sent through cabling (not shown) from the coin or banknote validator, to a central processing unit CPU 15 which in turn sends an electrical signal through cabling to the hopper 10 which will then release the appropriate amount of coins or tokens into a user coin collection area. The payout hopper 10 is present below the level at one end of an endless conveyor belt 12. This travels below the outlet of a relatively large coin reservoir 13 having a releasable outlet 14. The releasable outlet is a gap at the base of the coin reservoir to allow the coins/tokens to be gravity fed onto the conveyor belt 12. The amount of coins/tokens that are allowed through is dependent on the diameter and thickness of each coin/token. When the CPU 15 senses from a level detector 17 that the level of coins in the payout hopper 10 is low the CPU 15 sends a signal to the primary reservoir 13 to drop coins 11 via the outlet 14 onto the belt 12 to convey them via a coin diverter 20 such as a funnel leading into te the open top of the payout hopper 10. The level detector 17 can be either a switch that is activated/deactivated when a certain weight is present/not present, or an optical sensor that is blinded or active when the presence of coins/tokens are inside, or a metal detecting plate that is capable of detecting the presence of a metal object, or two metal plates that are linked together by the presence of coins/tokens. The payout hopper includes a secondary coin reservoir isolated from the primary coin reservoir 13 and fitted with a level sensor, such as a high level sensor connected to the CPU 15. If at any point such sensor signals to the CPU information that coins are absent or below a predetermined level, the CPU activates the motor 16 to refill the secondary reservoir. All these variations of sensor can be ape connected to the CPU 15 by means of cabling (not shown )and all transmit a signal to the CPU 15. The belt moves under the power of a motor 16. The rating of the motor 16 is determined by the capacity of the coin reservoir. Various types of motors and gearboxes will be used in this application, and the motor used may be either AC or DC type motor.
In a preferred embodiment the machine is designed to change coins or notes inserted into the inlet to a lower denomination coin. For example, the machine may be filled with coins such as 2p and when a higher denomination coin is inserted, such as a 10p coin, the machine is set up to dispense from the payout unit 5 x 2p coins.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown. The coins may be replaced by heavy tokens if they too cause problems at the payout unit.
The principal advantage of the arrangement is to reduce the weight burden upon the coin payout unit, the amount of coins in the coin reservoir being subject to the size of the motor turning the conveyor.