US1509950A - Coin sorter - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 30, 1924. 1,509,950

J. D. HEDRICK 00 IN SORTER Filed Feb. 13 1924 Patented Sept. 30, 1924.

UNITED STATES JESSE D. HEDRIGK, F MARION, INDIANA.

COIN SORTER.

Application filed February 13, 1324. Serial No. 692,489.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jnssn D. Hnnnion, a citizen of the United'States, residing at Marion, in the county of Grant and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin Sorters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for sorting coins or the like, of that type in which the mixed coins are allowed to flow down a chute which'is provided with selective devices for dropping the coins respectively, according to different denominations, thru different openings and into different receptacles. Associated with this structure isa feeding mechanism for feeding the coins one by one into the upper end of the chute, said feeding mechanism comprising a rotary cup having openings thru which the coins are discharged one by one into the top of the chute.

r In the present invention, the coins slide down the chute flatwise, and on reaching the baffles or separating devices are lifted and tipped over sidewise into an opening at the side of the chute through which they fall into a box or receiving device below.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which Fig.1 is a side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 is an end elevation. Fig. 3 is a detail in perspective of a section of the chute. Fig. 1 is a detail in section of the feeder. Fig. 5 is a sec-- tion on the line 55 of Fig. 1.

Referring specifically to the drawings, 6 indicates a base on which is mounted a standard 7 which supports the upper end of the chute 8 and the feeder at the top thereof, the lower end of the chute being supported by leg 9, and the chute extending at rather an acute angle downwardly from the upper to the lower end.

The feeder comprises a hopper 10 having an outlet 11 at the bottom thereof to the chute 8. WVithin this hopper is mounted a rotary cup 12, on a shaft 13 which extends thru the bottom wall of the hopper and is provided with a crank handle 14; whereby it may be turned, the upper end of the shaft being supported by an angular bracket 15 secured to the hopper. By turning the crank, the cup may be rotated in the hopper, and the lower edge or corner of the cup is provided with a plurality of slots 16 thru which the coins may or will drop one at a time when they reach the space or position opposite. the spout 11, thru which they slide to the chute. The slots 16 are sufficiently large to allow the passage of the largest coin to be sorted, larger coins if any being retained in the cup.

The chute may be made of sheet metal, and at one side it has a track or slideway 17 with a flange or wall 18 at one edge there- .of, this flange having a series of openings 19 which are progressively smaller in size toward the lower end of the chute. The bottom of the slideway 17 is slightly inclined sidewise toward the flange 18 so that the coins have some tendency to hug the flange 18 as they slide down. of the slideway 17 has a series of separating devices or baflles 20 each of which consists of a curved piece of metal the upper edge of which, indicated at 21, has somewhat the form of a spiral, and the upper end of which edge, as indicated at 22, merges into or rises from the floor of the slideway 17, and thence the edge curves over the slideway and leads at its lower end to one of the openings 19 which communicate with openings 23 thru which the coins may drop into drawers or receptacles 24 placed under the chute to receive thecoins. Also, at the lower end of each opening 19 is a pointed finger 25 which is offset from the flange 18 inwardly and partly across the slideway 17, the finger however being spaced above the floor of the slideway so that a coin which is not engaged by the bafiie 20 will slide under said finger and also under said baflie and thence down the slideway to the next baflie, and soon.

The operation is as follows: Assuming that a mass of coins is placed in the cup 12, the cup is rotated by the crank, and the coins escape one by one thru the slot 16, being actuated by the inclination of the bottom of the cup as well as by the centrifugal force developed. They then slide thru the spout or throat 11 onto the slideway 17. Assuming that the device is intended to sort quarters, nickels, pennies, and dimes, the quarters, or the coins of the largest size, are of such diameter that one edge thereof will ride up the spiral edge. 21 of the baffle 20 and will there by be tilted to a standing position and being guided by the edge 21 will roll out of the chute sidewise and thru the opening 19 adjacent thereto. The finger 25 by engaging in front of or under the coin will prevent the coin being cooked or upsetting and so The opposite edge 5 continuing down the slideway. A coin of a smaller size, say a nickel, will however not be engaged by the edge 22 of the first baffle, but will continue to slide down the slideway, passing under the finger 25 and the baffle 20, until it reaches the next baffle, the entering end 22" of which is set closer to wall .18, so that the nickelwill ride up said edge and will in a manner similar to that above described be tilted up and discharged thru the next opening 19. The pennies will pass the two upper baffles, and the dimes will finally be delivered from the lower end of the chute into a drawer or receptacle such as 24*. So by a series of spirally formed bafiies, with each of which is associated a finger, the baffle extendingaeross and the finger projecting above the slideway, the coins are assorted according to their respective denominations and are tilted from a flat position to an edgewise position and discharged thru openings at the side of the chute into appropriate receptacles. The pitch of the spiral edges 21 is such that gravity will nevertheless cause the coins to tilt to the upright position described and roll out at the side.

The device can be quite cheaply constructed of sheet metal and Wlll effectively perform the functions described. Obviously the feeder may be omitted and the coins fed into the machine by'hand, one by one, but the feeder provides means for rapid operation, the coins being placed in a mass or handful into the cup as the operation proceeds.

The invention is not limited to the particular form shown but may be embodied in various modifications thereof.

, I claim:

1. In a coin sorter in combination, an inclined chute having a slideway at one side thereof down which coins slide flatwise and a flange provided with openings at the inner edgeof the slideway, and a series of bafiies adjacent the openings successively, each baffle consisting of a curved member having a spiral upper edge extending over the slideway at a sufiicient height above the same to tilt the coins to edgewise position, the. upper end of said edge rising from the floor of the slideway, whereby coins will ride up said edge and be tilted thru the openings, the said upper ends of the successive bafiles being positioned at decreasing distances from said flange.

2. A coin sorter as set forth in claim 1. and a finger projectil'ig from said flange, at the lower end of the opening therein, above the slideway and under the respective baffle, said finger being spaced above the slideway.

3. A feeder for a coin sorting machine, comprising a hopper, and a rotary cup therein, said cup having openings in the lower corner thereof, thru which coins may be discharged into the hopper.

4. A feeder as set forth in claim :3. the

axis of said cup being inclined.

5. A feeder as set forth in claim 3, the bottom of the hopper being inclined and having an outlet spout at the lower corner thereof.

6. A coin sorter comprising a chute having an inclined slideway at one side thereof down which coins slide fiatwise and a series of openings beside the slideway, and a series of baflies about the chute, each baflle consisting of a spiral member rising from the outer edge of the slideway and curving sutiiciently high above the slideway to tilt the coins to edgewise position, and tern'iimiting at the opposite edge of the slideway, adjacent one of said openings, the upper ends of the successive spirals being spaced at decreasing distances from the inner edge of the slideway.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signat n. in presence of a witness.

JESSE l). H ICDlIIC-K. lVitness:

E. F. FERREE.

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