Coin validator

Coin acceptor (also: coin ) are devices that coins sorted according to certain specifications. They are used in machines to detect and sort out counterfeit money , foreign currency or unwanted coin values.

functionality

Coin validators can test the coins for size, thickness, weight, embossing depth, knurling and other material properties. Not only do they sort out counterfeit money, they also reject unwanted coin values. Simple coin validators only sort through good-bad sorting, complicated models can also sort the accepted coins according to their value. Coin changers collect accepted coins and give them out as change on request, for example. Instead of coins, chips or tokens can also be accepted.

Mechanical coin validator

Chewing gum machine with a rotary knob

An access machine . The coin slot, the return button and the return slot of the coin validator can be seen at the top left.

The simplest mechanical coin validator is the coin slot. He can sort by size and thickness. Another simple form of mechanical coin validator is the rotary lever on chewing gum machines . Mechanical coin validators are set to one or more coin values when they are built and cannot be converted to a different coin value without great effort. The coin check by a mechanism does not allow the coins to be tested for as many parameters as is possible for an electronic coin validator. Usually they are only checked according to diameter, thickness and magnetic permeability ; with more complex systems, sorting according to weight is also possible using a rocker system. After the introduction of the electronic coin validator, the mechanical coin validators were largely replaced. For a long time, a large area of application for mechanical coin validators was the cigarette machine , as this does not always have a power connection for an electronic coin validator. After coin validators with battery power became available, this niche also disappeared. Mechanical coin validators are still mainly used today in gaming machines, for example in pinball machines .

Electronic coin validator

The first use of electronic coin validators took place in the ticket machines of the Deutsche Bundesbahn during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. It was a coin validator from National Rejectors (NRI). Electronic coin validators can test a coin for more parameters than is possible for a mechanical coin validator. In addition to the diameter, thickness and weight, the embossing depth, the knurling or properties of the material from which the coin was minted can also be checked. They also allow more coin values to be accepted than mechanical coin validators. In contrast to their mechanical counterparts, electronic coin validators are programmable, which means that the devices can easily be programmed for different currencies. Banknote or money card readers can also be connected to modern coin validators and they can partially or completely take over control of the machine in which they are installed. Nowadays coin validators work with inductance measurement . The coin insertion slot and the roller rail up to the coin validator itself are designed in such a way that the insertion speed has no influence on the measurement result. In the coin validator itself, the "arrival" of a coin is signaled by a light barrier. Directly behind this are two coils which determine the coin type by means of induction measurement. If the coin is accepted by the system, it is sorted via a mechanical or electromechanical sorting system into the respective hopper or the respective coin tube or, in the case of machines without a return function, into the "money tank". If the coin is not accepted, it will not be allowed into the sorting mechanism by an electromechanical system. This is usually returned to the user via a return chute.

Euro changeover

A major challenge for manufacturers of coin validators was the switch to euro coins . The manufacturers of coin validators were among the first to be able to work with the new euro coins under strict security measures. New electronic coin validators could be programmed for both the DM and the Euro . They only had to be changed on the key date, some models did this automatically.

Web links

The country needs new coin validators ( Memento of December 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) from www.wdr.de

Individual evidence

↑ About us ... »History. National Rejectors, Inc., archived from the original on November 12, 2008 ; retrieved on July 14, 2008 : "1972 First electronic coin validator was used in ticket machines of the Deutsche Bundesbahn at the Olympic Games in Munich."

[1] About us ... »History. National Rejectors, Inc., archived from the original on November 12, 2008 ; retrieved on July 14, 2008 : "1972 First electronic coin validator was used in ticket machines of the Deutsche Bundesbahn at the Olympic Games in Munich."