US3603327A - Jam eliminator apparatus for coin counting machines - Google Patents

ABSTRACT: A helper wheel is disposed at the entrance to the exit passage of a coin counting machine in which a rotating disk forms coins into a single file and normally moves the file [54] JAM ELIMINATOR APPARATUS FOR COIN into the exit passage. The coins in the exit passage are engaged COUNTING M ACHINES seriatim by a rotating ejector wheel which forces the coins 9

Claims

5 Drawing Figs past a star wheel connected to a counter and out a discha e chute. The ejector wheel is mounted on a driven shaft which is joumaled in a tiltable support so that the ejector wheel may be moved away from the exit passage to halt the counting of coins. The helper wheel is supported on a bracket assembly which is mounted on the driv 08 8NN 93 3 l m 0 G mmh NC "0% WS l m h .m UhF 111. 2 0 555 en shaft and is also geared to the driven shaft. The helper wheel is tilted with the ejector wheel to be rendered operable to engage coins at the entrance and fe ulr mTm BAH

PATENTEDSEP nan 36034327 sum 1

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3 47 44 IN NTORS 47 55 ARNOL .BUCHHOLZ Z/ CHARLES T. BERGMAN 174 MAW ATTORNEY PATENTED SEP 7 I971 SHEET 2 UF 3 v INVENTORS Z5 ARNOLD R.BUCHHOLZ c HARL ES "r BERGMAN ATTORNEY

SHEET

3 OF 3 INVENTORS ARNOLD R-BUCHHOLZ CHARLES T. BERGMAN ATTORNEY I I 5 I PATENTEUSEP H97! ,llhM ELIMINATOR APPARATUS FOR COIN COUNTING MACHINES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to coin counting machines, and more particularly to an apparatus for insuring that a steady supply of coins will be delivered to the counting mechanism of the machine during a counting operation.

The coin handling machine included a

hopper

10 having its bottom defined by a horizontal disk 11 carried for rotation by a

vertical shaft

12. Generally, coins in the

hopper

10 are fed by the rotating disk 11 to an

exit passage

13 at one side of the hopper 1'1]. The

exit passage

13 has an entrance at the edge of the disk II which is defined laterally by an

adjustable gauge member

14 and a

coin guide point

15, the latter overlying and spaced slightly above the periphery of the disk 11. The

coin guide point

15 is mounted on the underside of a side portion of the hopper (not shown). The height of the exit passage I3 is determined by a

thickness gauge strip

16 mounted on the underside of a

gate

17 which also overlies the periphery of the disk 11 and which is vertically adjustable by the turning of a

screw shaft

18 carrying a

handle

19 to accommodate different denominations of coins. While the position of the coin guide point I5 is fixed, the

gauge member

14 is adjustable laterally by known mechanism (not shown) to vary the width of the exit opening to handle coins of different denominations.

As the disk lll rotates in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, the coins on the disk 11 will be moved outwardly toward the periphery of the disk 111. The coins are formed into a single file beneath the

thickness gauge strip

16 and the file of coins will be carried to the

entrance

13. If the file of coins is properly aligned along the periphery of the disk 11, the coins will be directed seriatim by the

coin guide point

15 through the entrance and into the

exit passage

13, where each coin will be engaged by a rotating

ejector wheel

20. The

ejector wheel

20 moves each coin past a

star wheel

21 carried on a

vertical shaft

22. The

star wheel

21 normally blocks the

exit passage

13 but is indexed one tooth at a time as each coin is forced past the

star wheel

21 by the

ejector wheel

20. The

star wheel shaft

22 is geared to a counter in a known manner so that the counter records the passage of each coin as the

star wheel

21 is indexed one tooth for the passage of each coin. The velocity imparted to the coins by the

ejector wheel

20 will be sufficient to move the coins to a

discharge chute

23 where they may be packaged in bags or wrappers, or the like.

The

ejector wheel

20, which has a rubber coin contacting face, is mounted on a

drive shaft

24 which carries a

pulley

25 connected by a belt to a pulley on a prime mover shaft (not shown). The

drive shaft

24 is mounted in a rear bearing 26 and a front bearing 2.7 both of which are carried by a

tiltable sup port

28 mounted to turn on a

pivot shaft

29. The

rear bearing

26 is pivotally mounted in the

support

28 by

trunnions

3!). The front bearing 27 is vertically slidably mounted in a box assembly fill formed as a part of the

support

28. A manually

adjustable screw shaft

32 is journaled in the top wall of the

box

31 and engaged in a threaded bore of the front bearing 27. By turning the

screw shaft

32, the front bearing 27 is moved in the

support

28 about the

trunnions

30 to adjust for wear on the coin contacting face of the

ejector wheel

20.

During the operation of the coin handling machine, the

ejector wheel

20 is continuously rotated and the counting and packaging of coins is halted by raising the

ejector wheel

20 so that it cannot engage coins delivered to the

exit passage

13. The counting and packaging of coins maybe halted in such manner automatically when a predetermined count of coins has been reached, as is well known from the aforementioned patents. A

compression spring

33 is biased between the underside of the

tiltable support

28 and a

plate

34 on the top surface of the machine. The

spring

33 urges the front end of the

tiltable support

28 upwardly to place the

ejector wheel

20 in its inoperative raised position, and a

lever arm

35 connected at one end to the

support

28 is actuatable to pull the

support

28 downwardly against the

spring

33 to position the

ejector wheel

20 in its lowered operative position. The

lever arm

35 may be actuated, for example, by a solenoid (not shown). A

stub shaft

36 extends through an elongated opening in the

tiltable support

28 and is threaded into the

gate

17 to define upper and lower limits for the movement of the

support

28 and, consequently, for the

ejector wheel

20. What has been described to this point represents no departure from known coin counting machines.

As previously stated, in the normal operation of the coin counting machine, the coins of the file are deflected seriatim by the coin guide point through the entrance and into the exit passage where they can be engaged by the

ejector wheel

20. However, the sharply serrated edges of the new laminated coins can and do become interlocked like gear teeth. This interlocking of the edges of the coins causes a coin which is slightly out of line to be driven against the

coin guide point

15. The trailing edge of such a coin has its serration interlocked with the serrations of the leading edge of the succeeding coin. The result is that the file of coins is bridged across the entrance to the

exit opening

13 and the ejector wheel is unable to engage any coins. Thus, the flow of coins is effectively halted until the jam is removed. Such a jammed condition is illustrated in FIG. 5.

To eliminate this problem, a

helper wheel

37 is positioned to contact the lead, out-of-line coin and move it through the exit opening to be engaged by the

ejector wheel

20.

Generally, the

helper wheel

37 is supported upon and driven by the

drive shaft

24 for the

ejector wheel

20. Specifically, the

helper wheel

37 is mounted for rotation on a

shaft

38 secured at the bottom of a depending

leg

39 of a

first support bracket

40. Also mounted on the

shaft

38 is a

gear

41 which is pinned to the

helper wheel

37 to drive the same as the

gear

41 is rotated. The

bracket

40 has a

horizontal portion

52 which is secured to a

horizontal shelf portion

43 of a

second support bracket

44. The

second support bracket

44 has a horizontally extending U-shaped portion formed of spaced

arms

45 and 46 joined by a

bight portion

47. The

bight portion

47 spans the

box

31. One

arm

45 mounts a flange bearing 48 in which the

drive shaft

24 is journaled and the

other arm

46 has a bore through which the

shaft

24 extends. Thus, the bracket assembly, comprising the first and

second brackets

40 and 44, is mounted on the

shaft

24 and is free to pivot thereon.

A

drive gear

49 is keyed to the

drive shaft

24 outboard of the

arm

46 of the U-shaped portion of the

second support bracket

44. The

drive gear

49 meshes with an

intermediate gear

50 mounted for rotation on a stub shaft on the depending

leg

39 of the

first bracket

40 above the

helper wheel

37. The

intermediate gear

50 in turn meshes with the

helper wheel gear

41 so that the

helper wheel

37 is drivingly connected to the drive shaft M. Since the

intermediate gear

50 is mounted on the bracket assembly which, in turn, is pivotally mounted on the

drive shaft

24, the distance between the centers of the

gears

49 and 50 is the same regardless of the angular position of the bracket assembly relative to the

drive shaft

24. Accordingly, the drive connection between the

helper wheel

37 and the

drive shaft

24 is maintained at all times.

An L-shaped

bracket

51 is secured to and projects from the

box

31 beneath the joined

horizontal portion

42 of the

first bracket

40 and the

horizontal shelf

43 of the

second support bracket

44. An

adjustment screw

52 extends through aligned holes in the joined

horizontal portion

42 and

horizontal shelf

43 and a

nut

53 is threaded onto the

screw

52. A

compression spring

54 is biased between the head of the

screw

52 and the

shelf

43 so that the

nut

53 is always urged upwardly to bear against the underside of the

shelf

43. The end of the

screw

52 is adapted to bear against the upper surface of the

bracket

51 and is urged to such position by a

tension spring

55 connected between the

box

31 and the

bight portion

47 of the

second support bracket

44.

The

tension spring

55 urges the

support bracket

44 and, consequently, the entire helper wheel bracket assembly to pivot about the

ejector wheel shaft

24 to position the periphery of the

helper wheel

37 above the exit passage 13 a distance limited by the engagement of the

adjustment screw

52 against the stop formed by the L-shaped

bracket

51.

In operation, when the

ejector wheel

20 is in its lowered, operative position for the counting the coins, the

helper wheel

37 is likewise in its operative position since it is supported entirely on the

drive shaft

24. When in such position, the

helper wheel

37 will engage the lead coin of the single file of coins and move the lead coin through the

exit passage

13 where it can be engaged by the

ejector wheel

20. A continuous stream of coins is thereby fed to the

ejector wheel

20 so long as the

ejector wheel

20 is in its lowered, operative position and the coins cannot bridge the entrance to the

exit passage

13. Whenever the

ejector wheel

20 is raised to its inoperative position the

helper wheel

37 is likewise raised so that it can no longer engage coins.

The position of the

helper wheel

37 above the bottom of the entrance to the

exit passage

13 can be varied by turning the

adjustment screw

52. Adjustment of the height of the

helper wheel

37 above the entrance may be employed for any one or more of the following effects:

a. For initially adjusting the distance between the exit passage and the periphery of the

helper wheel

37 so that the helper wheel in its lowered, operative position can engage the thinnest coin being handled (e.g. a dime), with coins of greater thickness being automatically accommodated by the helper wheel support assembly pivoting about the

ejector wheel shaft

24 against the urging of the

spring

55;

b. For adjusting the vertical distance between the

exit passage

13 and the periphery of the

helper wheel

37 for the thickness of the coin of a particular denomination when large quantities of such denomination are to be handled, so as to minimize wear on the

helper wheel

37;

c. For adjusting the vertical distance between the

exit passage

13 and the periphery of the

helper wheel

37 to corn pensate for wear of the

helper wheel

37; and

d. For adjusting the vertical distance between the

exit passage

13 and the periphery of the

helper wheel

37 when handling large quantities of coins without serrated edges which do not require the use of the helper wheel (e.g. nickels and pennies), so that the helper wheel will be positioned out of engagement with such coins even when the helper wheel is in its lowered position.

Preferably, the

helper wheel

37 is geared to the

ejector wheel shaft

24 so that its peripheral speed is somewhat faster than the normal flow speed of the file of coins off of the disk 11 and somewhat slower than the peripheral speed 0f the

ejector wheel

20 so that the coins are accelerated at each stage of engagement and will not back up onto the disk 1 1. The

helper wheel

37 is also preferably formed with a central flanged hub to which is attached an annulus formed of a material with a high coefiicient of friction, such as rubber or polyurethane.

The annulus preferably has its edge formed with a transverse taper of about 5 to enable the coins to flow under the helper wheel as they approach the entrance to the exit passage. Access may be gained to the

helper wheel

37 for replacing such annulus by removing the screws which join the

support brackets

40 and 44 and by then bodily removing the

first support bracket

40.

4. The combination in accordance with

claim

3 wherein said support for said helper wheel includes adjustment means for adjusting the relative angular position of said support about said drive shaft for varying the height of the periphery of said helper wheel above said entrance when said helper wheel is in its operable position.

6. The combination in accordance with

claim

5 wherein said means for rotating said helper wheel comprises a driving connection between said helper wheel and said drive shaft,