Coin Hopper Sorting Board with Pusher Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing coin hoppers face challenges in efficiently sorting and feeding coins of different diameters without damaging them, particularly in high-speed operations, and often require larger sizes to accommodate varying coin storage, leading to limitations in downsizing and increased risk of coin damage.
Innovation Solution
A coin hopper design featuring a rotating disk with through holes and pushers that move between standby and pushing positions to guide coins into a circumferential-direction passage, allowing for high-speed sorting and feeding without damaging coins, while maintaining a compact size by using a sorting board and coin holding plate with integrated guides and a driving cam for pusher movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional coin hoppers use larger sizes to accommodate varying coin storage, then storage capacity is improved, but device size increases and downsizing is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements nesting by placing the coin holding plate inside the sorting board structure, with the pusher mechanism integrated within the same assembly. The through hole in the sorting board allows coins to pass through to the holding plate, creating a nested configuration that maximizes storage capacity within a compact volume, directly resolving the contradiction between storage capacity and device size.
2Productivity
If conventional coin hoppers operate at high speed, then productivity is improved, but coin damage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pusher acts as an intermediary element between the coin supply and the discharge mechanism. It gradually pushes coins through the circumferential-direction passage, providing controlled movement that prevents sudden impacts and damage. This intermediary mechanism enables high-speed operation while protecting coins from damage, resolving the contradiction between productivity and coin damage risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs curved surfaces in the pusher design and circumferential-direction passage to guide coins smoothly. The curved geometry reduces sharp impacts and facilitates gentle coin movement during high-speed sorting and feeding, thereby maintaining productivity while minimizing coin damage.
3Adaptability or versatility
If conventional coin hoppers use separate components for sorting and holding, then functional clarity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the sorting board and coin holding plate into a single integrated assembly with the pusher mechanism. The through hole in the sorting board directly connects to the coin holding plate, eliminating the need for separate mounting structures and complex alignment mechanisms. This merging maintains functional clarity while significantly reducing device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables high-speed sorting and feeding of coins of different diameters without causing damage, while allowing for a compact design that does not require increased size for storage, effectively addressing the limitations of previous technologies.
Implementation Method 1
a driving cam for the pusher; the pusher is provided to be movable at specified timing upon forward rotation of the sorting board between a pushing position and a standby position
Implementation Method 2
causes the coins to drop from an upper side to a lower side through of the through hole by rotation of the sorting board
Data Source
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AI summary
Coins in a storing chamber are stirred and dropped into through holes by the rotation of a sorting board, become a surface contact state on a coin holding plate, and are held in coin holding space. The coin in the coin holding space is rotated together with the rotation of the sorting board. At a specified phase, the coin is pushed out to a circumferential-direction passage, which is continued to the coin holding space and extending in the circumferential direction of the sorting board, by a pusher, which moves to the coin holding space. The coin is pushed against a coin receiver, which is arranged to be adjacent to the sorting board, by a pusher constituting an end part of the circumferential-direction passage. In this state, pushing is switched to that by a rotating pushing piece, and the coin is finally fed out by the pushing piece.