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Box release mechanism ? - ideas or suggestions?

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raynerd:
Hello guys

I could do with some suggestions and ideas to make my concept work.

I would have a box made up - say 60x60x80mm in clear Perspex. Coins drop into the box and are stored - when the 50th coin drops into the box, all the coins are dumped from the bottom of the box.

I can deal with the coin counting, that isn`t a problem. However, I don`t know how to design the release AND reset method!! The other issue is to ensure ALL the coins get dumped.


A few of my thoughts - place a diagonal piece in the box so that the coins slope towards one corner. Use a small push/pull solenoid to open a slide bottom. The logistics around this are sketchy - how would I smoothly run the bottom trap door open and closed - just in slots? How would I magnify the travel of a small solenoid (7-10mm) to ensure the trap door slides open enough.  A much better method would be a hinged trap door but I`ve no idea how you could easily reset the door! You could easily release a hinged door using a solenoid to act as a "lock" but I can`t imagine how the trap door could be lifted back up to reset. 

Any help appreciated!    :proj:

Chris

SemiSkilled:
How about a wheel with with a quarter or more cut out, on  the 50th coin the wheel rotates the cutout allow the bottom of the box to drop emptying the box, as the wheel continues to rotate the solid part closes the box, wheel stops.

Lee

srm_92000:
How about pivoting the base along its centre and driving it round slowly 180 deg.
Micro-switch situated to cut the motor once level, activating pulse just needs to be long enough to move the door/some sort of cam, off the switch. A bit like car wipers parking setup.  :thumbup: I see another wiper motor finding a new home. :coffee:

vtsteam:
How about just a wheel, no box. The wheel is like a water wheel but only two "buckets". In other words it has just a single divider. It rotates 180 degrees to simultaneously empty the contents of one side and bring the other side up for filling with coins. When that side fills, it rotates another 180 degrees -- etc.

Actually it can be any shape, not just a wheel, as long as there are two of them, they face opposite directions, and the whole rotates 180 degrees to empty and bring the other side up for filling. Could even be a pair of boxes.

And actually, actually, (double actually) it doesn't even have to be two boxes. Could be only one box with an open top that rotates 360 degrees slowly and then stops upright again after having dumped the coins -- ready to receive more.

clevinski:
Hi, Chris,

I'm not sure how much space you have, but I was thinking a horizontal "floor" to your box that is pivoted at one corner.  Upon receipt of the 50th coin, you activate a motor to rotate your floor around this pivot point.  (The "floor" will always remain... what's the term when something is parallel in two dimensions?  Anyway, the floor does not tilt; the coins on it are pushed off by the lack of clearance between the floor and the side wall.) 

The length of the activation pulse is relatively short, because you latch the motor using a cam and a microswitch.  When the "floor" has turned through approx. 360°, the cam deactivates the microswitch and the motor stops, with your floor closed again.  The advantage of this technique is that you don't have two separate "empty" and "reset" functions; there is only one "rotate floor" function.

BTW, we do something very similar with some of our paper cutter devices (used as components in other equipment).  This ensures that the cutter blade rotates 360° and provides closed-loop feedback so that it stops in the same place every time.

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