64results about "Electrical actuation" patented technology

An apparatus for securely monitoring the sales transactions in bulk vending machines, said apparatus comprising at least one bulk vending machine having a coin mechanism. The coin mechanism includes a coin plate; a selectively rotatable shaft extending radially therefrom; a coin shuttle, a cam-bearing lobe and a coin mechanism adapter plate co-axially and collectively located around the selectively rotatable shaft; and a first switch and a second switch. The first and second switches are fixedly mounted and oriented on the coin mechanism adapter plate so that the maximum amount of backlash in the coin mechanism is less than the angular spread of the switches. The coin mechanism further includes a microprocessor having a sales counter; and means for communicatingly connecting the first and second switches to said microprocessor, whereby the microprocessor will advance the sales counter one numeric count and record a single vend only after the cam-borne lobe contacts and completely closes both first and second switches, when it is rotated as a result of a coin deposited in the coin mechanism.

A currency changer device is adapted to be used with a point of sale terminal and includes a housing, a coin accepting tray carried by the housing for accepting a plurality of coins in bulk, and a bill accepter carried by the housing for accepting and sorting a plurality of bills in bulk. The currency changer device may also include a respective plurality of first and second currency changer device hardware components. The plurality of second currency changer device hardware components are identical to the respective plurality of first currency changer device hardware components. Both the first and second plurality of currency changer device hardware components include a first and a second coin sorter each in communication with the coin accepting tray, a first and a second plurality of respective coin bins in communication with the respective first and second coin sorters, and a first and a second plurality of bill cassettes in communication with the bill accepter. The currency changer device may also include a coin dispenser and a bill dispenser. The currency changer device is adapted to accept a plurality of unsorted coins in bulk and a plurality of unsorted bills in bulk for a cash transaction, and to dispense change in a cash transaction responsive to commands received from the at least one point of sale terminal.

As disclosed herein, a method for determining when a coin storage bin having a bottom and sides is filled to a predetermined percentage of the volume of the coin storage bin comprises: determining a coin volume for a coin entering the coin storage bin, adding the coin volumes for each coin entering the coin storage bin to provide a running total volume of all coins entering the coin storage bin, comparing the running total volume of all coins entering the coin storage bin with the volume of the coin storage bin, and determining when the running total volume of all coins entering the coin storage bin is greater than or equal to the predetermined percentage of the volume of the coin storage bin. The volume for a coin can be determined from information provided by a coin acceptor, where the information is thickness, diameter, weight, or a combination comprising at least one of these.

A sheet handling device includes a main transport path, a temporarily holding section provided in the main transport path, a transport section, a detection section provided at a predetermined detection position in the main transport path and a controller. The temporarily holding section includes a looped transport path. The controller performs a procedure including the steps of (I) transporting the sheet traveling along the main transport path to the looped transport path, (II) transporting another sheet along the main transport path, (III) controlling the transportation of the sheet and the transportation of said another sheet in response to the arrival of said another sheet at the detection position such that the sheets are stacked into a bunch in the looped transport path with certain parts of the sheets being aligned and (IV) repeating the steps (II) and (III) as required.

A paper sheet handling apparatus includes a transport unit having a main transport path and a return transport path, a detection unit arranged at a predetermined detection position in the main transport path, and a controller controlling the transport unit based on the detection result of the detection unit. The controller leads, at the diversion position in the main transport path, a paper sheet transported along the main transport path into the return transport path, transports a subsequent paper sheet along the main transport path, and controls the transportation of the paper sheet and the transportation of the subsequent paper sheet respectively in response to the arrival of the subsequent paper sheet at the detection position such that the paper sheets are stacked into a batch at the joining position of the two transport paths with certain parts of the paper sheets being aligned.

It is an object of the invention to provide a bill-operated capsuled article vending machine. The capsuled article vending machine 10 is provided with a capsule container 12 at an upper portion thereof and a capsule dispensing unit 14 at a lower portion thereof. The capsule dispensing unit 14 is provided with a reverse rotation preventing mechanism 44 of the handle 32, a bill identifying unit 50, a bill storing box 52 and a rotation control unit 54 for the handle 32, in addition to the handle 32. The rotation control unit 54 is provided with a locking mechanism 60 for locking or unlocking the handle 32, a sensor 62 for detecting a rotational position or a rotational angle of the handle 32 and a control unit 64. When the bill identifying unit 50 recognizes reception of a prescribed bill, the rotation control unit 54 enables one rotation of the handle 32, by which an article is dispensed.

A tracking system counts events in the operation of multiple machines or devices over a wide geographic area. For example, for bulk venders the system counts each vend responsive to rotation through a cycle of the coin mechanism, and preferably records the date and time of each vend. An active tag has a memory for storing data representing a vending event, for example the date and time of the event. The data is periodically read by an interrogator, which downloads the data stored in the tag memory and erases the memory to reset the tag for continued monitoring of the vender. With this information an operator can reconcile revenues, track when sales take place and over what period of time, and track the work habits of service personnel.