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Apparatus for checking the validity of coins
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Inventors: Dean, Robert; Reyner, Peter J.; Hutchinson, Derek;
Assignee: Mars Incorporated (McLean, VA)
Primary Examiner:
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Apparatus for checking the validity of coins, the apparatus requiring electrical power for its coin checking operation, and comprising a coin path, and at least one sensor (HF1,LF,HF2) for interacting with a coin on the coin path to provide an information signal, characterized by one of said interacting sensors (HF1) providing an information signal in response to at least the great majority of coin types, a circuit (316,315) for determining whether the information signals are indicative of an acceptable coin, and a detector (316) operable by the occurrence of the information signal from said one interacting sensor to initiate the application within the apparatus of power adequate for its coin checking operation, the detector being adapted to so operate irrespective of whether or not the information signal from said one interacting sensor is indicative of an acceptable coin, whereby said power application occurs substantially every time a coin passes along the coin path. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION One aim of the present invention is to provide improved coin handling apparatus which performs the necessary measurements on the coin inductively or capacitively, but whose average power consumption is relatively low.
According to the invention from a first aspect, there is provided apparatus for checking the validity of coins, comprising means arranged to establish a changing magnetic or electric field in an examination region, and circuit means for determining whether the degree of interaction between a coin, when in the examination region, and the field is indicative of an acceptable coin, the circuit means being capable of being switched on in blocks in accordance with a program so as to reduce the average power consumption of the circuit means, and there being detector means arranged to initiate said program only upon detecting the presence of a coin to be tested.
Essentially, therefore, the coin validity-checking apparatus draws only low mean power, power consumption being kept to a minimum when the design of each section of the validation circuitry is optimised for minimum power consumption when energised and, in addition, circuit blocks are switched so as to become operative substantially only for sufficient time to perform the tasks assigned to them.
As a result, when awaiting the arrival of a coin, the standby power consumption is either zero or very low and even when a coin is in the examination region, the power consumption is kept to a minimum.
Therefore, overall, the average power consumption is also very low.
According to the invention from a second aspect, there is provided apparatus for checking the validity of coins, comprising means arranged to establish a changing magnetic or electric field in an examination region, and circuit means for determining whether the degree of interaction between a coin, when in the examination region, and the field is indicative of an acceptable coin, the circuit means being capable of being powered up and there being detector means operative to detect arrival of a coin in said examination region so as to power up the circuit means only for a limited duration in which the circuit means effects the aforesaid determination of coin acceptability
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