The invention relates to a device for sorting coins and the like, comprising a body, a feeder drum, a coin track and ejecting means for coins, whereby the feeder drum is intended for feeding the coins onto the coin track and the ejecting means are in¬ tended for guiding the coins off the coin track to a collecting place desired. Several types of machines for sorting and counting coins are known. The main parts of the ma¬ chines are the coin feeder and the coin track, from which the coins are removed for instance through tubes into receptacles or the like situated below. One device of a known type comprises a feeder in the form of a drum, which drum comprises a rotary disc, from which coins are guided on the coin track. The coins roll, on their sides, i.e. in the vertical position, along the coin track and are allowed to go off the coin track under the influence of gravity through outlets arranged below the track in such a way that coins of different values go into separate outlets. To this end, deflecting knives are arranged in the connection of the coin track at determined heights, which knives attend to that coins of differ¬ ent sizes go off the coin track at separate places so that coins of different values fall into separate re¬ ceptacles. To increase the speed of the device, the coin track is inclined in such a way that the end of the coin track pointing away from the feeder drum, i.e. the free end, is situated lower than the oppo¬ site end. Because the surface of the coin track sup¬ porting the coin from the side is in the vertical position, efforts have been made to arrange the feed- er drum also into a position as upright as possible.

However, a vertical rotary disc is not capable of lifting coins very effectively from below upwards to a place from where they are removed from the feeder drum, and therefore, the surface of the rotary disc is provided with radial grip projections, the purpose of which is to effect that a coin grips the rotary disc better. However, grip projections do not solve very well the problem of making the coins grip the rotary disc, and therefore, th feeder drum is in- clined about 20° with respect to the vertical axis. As to the object of making the coin grip the rotary disc better at the initial stage of coin lifting, it is known to make the disc flexible so that the lowest area of the disc forms a relatively big angle with respect to the vertical plane-- The maximum speed of such a device is, in spite of what has been said, relatively modest _Λ namely 800 coins per minute. One great drawback of the device is also that it needs plenty of room in the vertical direction because of the inclined coin track.

Moreover, a device is known in which coins are removed from the coin track by "shooting" at a cer¬ tain moment and by utilizing a solenoid. The coin track comprises a chain,, which moves the coins. On account of the above, the coin track does not need to be inclined, due to which the device needs less room in the vertical direction than the previous one. In the last-mentioned device, the feeder drum is verti¬ cal and not capable of feeding coins on the coin track at a very high speed. The maximum operating speed of the device is about 400 to 500 coins per minute.

Further, a device for sorting coins is known, which comprises a horizontal path of coins provided with elongated apertures of different widths in the

plane of the track, so that coins of different dia¬ meters can pass through the apertures. The smallest coin is removed (falls) through the aperture closest to the feeder drum, which aperture is the smallest one of the apertures of the coin track, and the big¬ gest coin is removed through the aperture situated farthest away from the feeder drum. Coins are convey¬ ed on the coin track by a belt. In this device, the feeder drum is arranged in a horizontal plane, which solution is natural on account of the horizontal coin track. An advantage of this device is the rather high speed: about 1300 to 1500 coins per minute. This high speed is possible because of the fact that the feeder drum is horizontal: a horizontal feeder drum is cap- able of moving the coins effectively to the periphery of the feeder drum, from where they move on the coin track at a certain place. However, a drawback of this device is that it is not capable of separating coins with a small difference in diameter because of the structure of said apertures: for efficient separa¬ tion, a difference in diameter of at least about 0,4 mm is required in practice. Additionally, if there is a foreign "non-standard" coin among the coins to be sorted, which is discovered by means of an optical or inductive sensor, the device must be stopped in order to take away the foreign coin from the standard or "correct" coins and to prevent it from being mixed with "correct" coins of approximately identical dia¬ meter. (A foreign coin falls through the first aper- ture of the coin track which has a sufficient diame¬ ter. ) Due to this, this known device is not so quick in practice as its theoretical speed gives to under¬ stand. It takes time for the coins to fall of them¬ selves through said apertures, because of which the theoretical speed of the device cannot be very high

either.

The object of the present invention is to eli¬ minate the most substantial drawbacks associated with the devices according to the prior art. To achieve these objects, the device according to the invention is mainly characterized by the combination of the following features:

- the feeder drum is in a manner known per se in a substantially horizontal plane or at an angle α, which deviates relatively little from the horizontal plane,

- the plane defined by the coin track is in¬ clined with respect to the feeder drum plane and forms an angle β with respect to the vertical plane, which angle is, on the one hand, big enough for the coin to be supported with its one side against the coin track under the influence of gravity and to move forward supported on this track in a controlled man¬ ner without any significant sway, and which angle is, on the other hand, small enough for the coin to be removed in a manner known per se from the coin track mainly laterally by shooting with solenoid-controlled ejecting means, whereby the device comprises turning means for turning a coin coming from the feeder drum and being in the feeder drum plane to a plane defined by the coin track. The preferred embodiments of the device of the invention are presented in claims 2 to 13 enclosed.

The present invention is based on the idea of providing a quick-operated coin track inclined with respect to the horizontal drum feed.

The most important advantages of the device ac¬ cording to the invention are that its speed is con¬ siderably higher than that of the known devices and that there is no need of stopping the device, even if

there are foreign coins among the coins to be count¬ ed. The sorting speed is typically 1500 to 2000 coins per minute. Further, the device can have a small size and it is capable of separating coins of only slight- ly differing diameters. Even coins of the same size, but of different materials, are separable when a sensing device suitable for this purpose is connected to the device.

The invention will be explained in greater de- tail in the foMowing by means of one preferred em¬ bodiment with reference to the enclosed drawing, in which

Figure 1 shows a device seen from above, Figure 2 shows the device in a partially lon- gitudinal section,

Figure 3 illustrates an arrangement by means of which a coin is moved and turned,

Figure 4 shows a turning means from above and Figures 5 to 7 show cross-sections along lines V-V, VI-VI and VII-VII of Figure 4.

The device of Figure 1 comprises a body 1, a feeder drum 2 supported on the body and slightly in¬ clined with respect to the horizontal plane, into which drum coins 3 to be sorted and counted are pour- ed, and a coin track, which is generally indicated by the reference numeral 4. When the feeder drum 2 is rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow, the coins are removed to the coin track 4 at a place 5. At the place 5 is arranged a gate with an adjustable height (for the sake of clarity not drawn), by means of which the height of the slot can be adjusted through which the coin passes. Thanks to the gate, it is possible to remove coins from the feeder drum 2 in thickness order, if desired, in such a way that the smallest coin in thickness is always removed at

first. By lifting the gate to an upper position, coins of different sizes are removed simultaneously, as shown in the figure.

At the first end of the coin track 4, the posi- tion of the coin is changed in such a way that it will be in a more vertical position. For this pur¬ pose, the device comprises turning means designated 6. At a place 7 of the coin track, the coin 3 prefe¬ rably forms an angle β of 10-30° with respect to the vertical plane," cf. Figure 2. At the first end of the track, there is also a sensing unit 8, by means of which the coin is sensed. The sensing unit 8 is posi¬ tioned after the. turning means 6 in the moving direc¬ tion of the coins. The coin is conveyed on the coin track by means of a conveying belt 9. When being con¬ veyed, the coin rolls supported on a lower support 10 of the coin track, the coin leaning simultaneously against the conveying belt 9. When the coin is at that outlet 11 to 15 into which it shall be guided, solenoids 16 to 20 guided by the sensing unit 8 strike the ejecting means having the form of pins 21 to 24 towards the side of the coin, which makes the coin fly at full speed into the outlet desired. If the sensing unit 8 discovers a foreign coin, this is allowed to pass forward to the end of the track or conveying path, from where it is allowed to fall into a receptacle positioned below the conveying path. Al¬ ternatively, it is conceivable that one solenoidal ejecting unit is arranged to push all foreign coins into a separate outlet.

From Figure 2 is seen that a rotary disc 25 of the feeder drum, on which disc the coins lie, forms an angle α of about 5° with respect to the horizontal plane. The angle α shall be small, about 30° at the most, because otherwise it is not possible to achieve

a high feed speed for the feeder drum. The value of the angle α is preferably below about 20°. It has been discovered that an exactly horizontal drum with α = 0 is to be highly recommended, because it enables a very effective feed without problems.

The operation of the solenoids 16 to 20 of the device can be controlled as follows. When it is not possible any longer to feed coins through an outlet for a certain type of coins, for instance outlet num- ber 11, due to the fact that the receptacle under the outlet 11 is full and must be emptied, the coin type in question is guided into another receptacle by ac¬ tivating another solenoid, to which is connected an empty receptacle. Top left in Figure 1, there is a counting de¬ vice 26 counting the number of the coins sorted and registering the values thereof.

Figure 3 shows more accurately how the coin is turned in the turning means 6. Figure 3 corresponds to a view from the turning means in the direction of arrows III-III in Figure 1. When a coin comes from the feeder drum to the turning means 6, it is in the horizontal plane. When moving in the turning means 6, it turns an angle of 65° to a position indicated by broken lines. When the coin leaves the turning means 6, it is thus at an angle β of 25° with respect to the vertical plane. At the middle of the turning means 6, the coin has managed to turn 32,5° with respect to the horizontal plane. Figure 3 shows that the turning means 6 con¬ sists of a trough-like body, in which the coin propa¬ gates supported by its peripheral surface on edges 27, 28 of the trough, mainly on the lower edge 27. The coin 3 is supported with its side surface on a sliding surface 29 of the turning means, while a

drive belt 30 having a round diameter is positioned against the opposite side surface of the coin. The drive belt 30 is a flexible rubber belt, which pres¬ ses by its elastic force the coin along a line sit- uated in the middle of the side surface of the coin. Under the influence of a friction between the drive belt 30 and the coin 3, the coin moves at a speed defined by the drive belt. Thanks to its flexibility, the drive belt is capable of conveying coins in dif- ferent thicknesses without being adjusted. The coin moves with a dragging or rather sliding movement in substantially straight line supported on the turning base. Said line, i.e. the moving direction of the coin, is the same as the direction of the drive belt. For the purpose of a small moving resistance, the turning base, i.e. the sliding surface 29 and the edges 27, 28, have a small friction and are made of plastic. Alternatively, the surfaces could be made for instance of hard steel, which also has a small friction against the coins and is very resistant to abrasion.

When moving within the turning means 6, the coin 3 turns continuously and steplessly along a spiral path. During the movement, the drive belt 30 presses continuously against the surface of the coin substantially at the same place, which can be seen from the position of the coin 3 with respect to the drive belt 30 drawn by broken lines. If there is no coin in the turning means 6, the drive belt takes a position in which its centre is at point 0. Thanks to the fact that the drive belt 30 has a round shape, said turning succeeds evenly. When the coin is moved, the position of the centre axis of the belt 30 changes so little that it can be said that the posi- tion does not change substantially.

Small and big coins are conveyed in the same manner in principle, the main difference being that the drive belt 30 can grip a small coin also at a place which is farther away from the middle of the side surface of the coin, i.e. closer to the edge of the side surface, which is caused by the fact that a small coin can come to the turning means in a some¬ what "oblique" position.

In Figure 4, the turning means 6 is shown from above. An arrow A indicates a place at which the coin 3 comes in the horizontal plane to the turning means 6. When propagating, the coin 3 turns gradually in such a way that it forms an angle of 32,5° with re¬ spect to the feeder drum (and the horizontal plane) at a place indicated by an arrow B and that it has turned about an angle θ of 65° with respect to the feeder drum at a place indicated by an arrow C, due to which the side surface of the coin forms an angle β of 25° with respect to the vertical axis. Figures 5 to 7 show cross-sections of the turn¬ ing means at V-V, VI-VI and VII-VII of Figure 4.

The invention has been described above by way of one preferred embodiment only, and therefore it is pointed out that the details of the invention can be realized in many ways within the scope of the enclos¬ ed claims. It is thus conceivable that the angle β is within the area of about 0 to 60°. Then the angle θ, about which the coin turns in the turning means, is between 30 and 90°, if the feeder drum is entirely horizontal. If the feeder drum is inclined from the horizontal plane about an angle α of 20° (as in Figure 2), the angle θ is within the area 10 to 70° (or 50 to 110°, if the inclination occurs in another direction). The bigger the angle β is, the more difficult it will be to shoot the coin off the coin track, and with a

very small angle the problem is that the coin is not supported well enough against the coin track, but is brought into an oscillating movement. It can then go off the track at a wrong place for instance because of the fact that its propagation speed on the coin track is not even, due to which the ejectors operate at a wrong time with respect to the position of the coin on the track. On account of this, the angle β is preferably within the area 10 to 30°. It shall be noticed that also such a solution is possible in which the axis of the drive belt re¬ mains entirely in its place and the coin turns round the drive belt in such a way that the coin does not rotate about its own axis, but the drive belt touches the coin along a line which moves on the surface of the coin (and is not at the same place and diameter, as in the example case). In a solution of this kind, the moving direction of the coin is not quite the same as the direction of the drive belt. The drive belt 30 does not necessarily need to be flexible: a flexible drive belt with high friction provided with means pressing the belt against coins could serve as an alternative solution, which would have a more complicated structure and be more expen- sive, however. The cross-section of the drive belt does not necessarily need to be round. The means 27, 28 for preventing the coin to be moved from being guided off the turning base during turning are not necessarily made in one piece with the turning base.