Dual coil coin sensing apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A coin sensing apparatus, comprising:
- a pair of sensor coils electrically connected in series and physically arranged so that a coin deposited into the apparatus may pass sequentially through each sensor coil and thereby change the impedance of the coil;
a sensor oscillator circuit incorporating the pair of sensor coils which outputs an oscillating sensor signal at a frequency dependent on the impedance of the sensor coils; and
,counter means for measuring the frequency of the sensor signal as a coin passes sequentially through the sensor coils to obtain a frequency signature for the coin which can be compared with characteristic frequency signatures of valid coins.
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Abstract
An apparatus for sensing coins is disclosed which is capable of distinguishing between valid and non-valid coins as well as between the different denominations of coins. The apparatus is useful for application in coin-operated parking meters as well as other coin-operated machines. The apparatus makes use of a twin-coil sensor which enables it to distinguish between small coins with high metal content and large coins with low metal content.
149 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A coin sensing apparatus, comprising:
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a pair of sensor coils electrically connected in series and physically arranged so that a coin deposited into the apparatus may pass sequentially through each sensor coil and thereby change the impedance of the coil; a sensor oscillator circuit incorporating the pair of sensor coils which outputs an oscillating sensor signal at a frequency dependent on the impedance of the sensor coils; and
,counter means for measuring the frequency of the sensor signal as a coin passes sequentially through the sensor coils to obtain a frequency signature for the coin which can be compared with characteristic frequency signatures of valid coins. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification