Patent attributes
A hopper coin feeder (1) comprises upper and lower hopper discs (18, 25). A flexible hopper wall (17) of diabolo shape cooperates with the upper disc (18) to control the feeding of coins by a coin pushing member (35) to the outer margin of the disc (18) where they are gripped between an annular band (33) and the disc (18) to be conveyed past a coin discriminator (61). Any coins or debris that drop from the edge of upper disc (18) are caught on the lower disc (25) and pass to a reject chute (132) and coin payout cup (12). An active coin delivery chute and diverter (80), FIG. 10, comprises a reciprocable plate (81) having a finger (82) which controls whether a coin fed from the upper disc (18) passes down the chute or is rejected onto the lower disc (25). Coins that pass down the chute enter a bowl (89) of a double-disc coin conveying assembly (5) that conveys a coin from the bowl (89) to a LIFO coin stacks (3) of a coin storage unit (1). Oversize coins that enter the chute can be directed through the bowl (89), and through aligned apertures (8) in the coin conveying discs, to pass into a coin outlet (10) also leading to the payout cup (12).
