EP0833279A1 - Dispensing device for tickets or the like equipped with a rotary control device with tactile effect - Google Patents

Abstract

The rotary selector contains a hybrid stepper motor (MOT) with a rotor (ROT) connected to the selector control. The exterior of the rotor carries a number of projecting teeth (DR) with alternate magnetic polarities generated by a permanent magnet. The stator (STA) has four magnetic poles (PM1 to PM2) equally distributed round the rotor. Each of the pole faces carries a number of projecting teeth (DS). A coil is wound round each pole, with the coils on one set of opposite poles (BA) wound in one direction, and the coils (BB) on the other set of opposite poles wound in the other direction. Rotation of the rotor generates pulses in each of the coils, for processing by an electronic circuit. The coils are operated in pairs for a given duration or at a given level in response to stored parameters in the memory.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for dispensing tickets or the like equipped with a rotary control with tactile effect.

It finds a particular application in distribution tickets or the like in exchange for payment.

We already know devices distributors of titles which use a rotary knob to select the display of title selection settings. For example, in the French application FR-A-2 683 651, the Applicant has described a ticket dispensing device which includes a button turning able to be trained by a user to select display of a ticket selection parameter. The button rotating includes an optoelectronic device which allows to supply electrical quantities corresponding to the meaning of rotation of the rotary knob as well as its movement angular.

Such an optoelectronic device has the disadvantage of being relatively expensive and exhibit electrical wear in reason of the light source used.

The present invention overcomes these drawbacks.

• des moyens d'affichage d'au moins un paramètre relatif à la sélection du titre ;
• un organe de commande à rotation libre apte à être entraíné par un usager pour sélectionner l'affichage dudit paramètre ;
• des moyens de traitement propres à sélectionner l'affichage dudit paramètre, à l'aide de grandeurs électriques qui correspondent au sens de rotation et au déplacement angulaire de l'organe de commande ;
• des moyens de validation de ladite commande de sélection d'affichage ; et
• des moyens de délivrance d'un titre en réponse à ladite validation.

It starts from a device distributing a ticket or the like, comprising:

• means for displaying at least one parameter relating to the selection of the title;
• a freely rotating control member capable of being driven by a user to select the display of said parameter;
• processing means suitable for selecting the display of said parameter, using electrical quantities which correspond to the direction of rotation and the angular displacement of the control member;
• means for validating said display selection command; and
• means for issuing a title in response to said validation.

According to a general definition of the invention, the control houses a stepper motor, hybrid type, comprising a rotor whose rotation shaft corresponds to that of the control member and on the circumference of which are arranged teeth of alternately different polarities and magnetized by a permanent magnet, and a stator comprising at least first to fourth magnetic poles arranged around the rotor and each having teeth, at least one first coil wound in the same direction around the first and third opposite poles and a second wound coil in the same direction around the second and fourth opposite poles, the arrangement of the stator teeth relative to that of the rotor teeth for inductive generation in first and second coils of two pulse trains in depending on the rotation of the rotor, and the processing means being connected to one of the terminals of the first and second coils to receive and process these two pulse trains and deduce therefrom said electrical quantities.

According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the angular distance between two successive teeth of the rotor is different from the angular distance between two successive teeth of the stator, the motor pitch being proportional to said difference.

In practice, the stepper motor includes a high number of not worth a few degrees.

For example, the step of the stepper motor is 1.8 °.

The Applicant also raised the problem of providing a rotary control element which provides a tactile effect during including changing the display of the parameter title selection.

She also finds a solution to this problem by using cleverly inductive effects of the stepper motor.

Thus, according to another aspect of the invention, the means of processing are suitable for activating said first and second coils to inductively brake or block the rotation of the control unit according to the parameter displayed on the display means or in response to a predetermined condition.

Such a device has the advantage of using for braking inductive of the control member the same coils as those used for the detection of the rotation of the ordered. However, it has the disadvantage of claiming a brake control electronics with internal impedance high so as not to influence the reading of the pulses on the coils.

A solution to this problem is according to the invention to additionally equip the stator with a third coil strongly coupled with the first coil and wound in the same direction that the first coil around the first and third poles magnetic and a fourth coil strongly coupled with the second coil and wound in the same direction as the second coil around the second and fourth magnetic poles and activate said third and fourth coils to inductively brake or block the rotation of the organ of command according to the parameter displayed on the means display or in response to a predetermined condition.

Advantageously, the processing means are able to activate the first and second coils or the third and fourth coil according to a chosen intensity and duration according to the parameter displayed on the display means or in response to a predetermined condition.

• la figure 1 est une vue d'ensemble de la façade avant d'un distributeur de titres de transport équipé d'un organe de commande rotatif à effet tactile selon l'invention ;
• le figure 2 est une vue de face de l'organe de commande selon l'invention ;
• la figure 3 est une vue en coupe transversale de l'organe de commande de la figure 2 ;
• la figure 4 est une vue éclatée des éléments constitutifs et essentiels de l'organe de commande selon l'invention ;
• la figure 5 est une vue simplifiée du moteur pas à pas à deux bobines logé dans l'organe de commande selon l'invention ; et
• la figure 6 est une vue simplifiée du moteur pas à pas à quatre bobines logé dans l'organe de commande selon l'invention.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the light of the detailed description below and the appended drawings in which:

• FIG. 1 is an overall view of the front facade of a ticket vending machine equipped with a rotary control member with tactile effect according to the invention;
• Figure 2 is a front view of the control member according to the invention;
• Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the control member of Figure 2;
• Figure 4 is an exploded view of the constituent and essential elements of the control member according to the invention;
• FIG. 5 is a simplified view of the stepping motor with two coils housed in the control member according to the invention; and
• Figure 6 is a simplified view of the stepper motor with four coils housed in the control member according to the invention.

In Figure 1, there is shown the front facade FAC of a distributor of transport tickets or the like in exchange a payment. In a known manner, the distributor comprises an ECR screen intended to display at least one relative parameter when selecting the title. A rotary control member free ORG is located below the screen. This organ of command is cylindrical or ovoid in shape. A part of the outer face of the cylinder (substantially half) is flush with the surface of the front face of the dispenser while the other part of the external face of the cylinder is housed inside front panel of the dispenser.

The front of the dispenser is completed by means VAL and ANN validation (buttons with keys) of the order display selection obtained by training by a user of the freely rotating control member.

In the case of the distribution of a security in exchange for a payment, the securities distributor also includes PAI payment entry means, for example of the type electronic payment, including a CLA keyboard and a LEC electronic payment card reader.

DEL delivery means of a title in response to the validation complete the front of the dispenser.

Referring to Figure 2, the ORG control unit is ovoid shape. The horizontal axis of rotation of the AX command is parallel to the longest side of the ordered. The control member is freely rotatable between two forks or the like FOU1 and FOU2 secured to the chassis of the front panel of the distributor using means fixing FIX1 and FIX2 of known type.

Referring to Figure 3, a MOT stepper motor is housed in the control member which consists of two shells COQ1 and COQ2 nestable one inside the other.

For example, the shells are made of an alloy aluminum treated by anodic oxidation.

The stepper motor is connected to processing means (not shown) by FI connection wires.

Referring to Figure 4, the stepper motor includes a rotor (not shown) whose rotation shaft corresponds to the axis of rotation AX of the control member. Motor not MOT step consists of a parallelepiped-shaped carcass, secured to the axis of rotation AX using a ring U-shaped BAG that completely encloses the housing containing the stepper motor. Bearing and circlip means ROU1 and ROU2 complete the means of guiding in rotation free of the stepper motor.

The stepper motor is hybrid type, that is to say that the ROT rotor is permanent magnet on the one hand, and the torque rotor / stator has a structure capable of introducing a change in reluctance on the other hand.

For example, the stepper motor is the one sold by the MINEBEA company (Japanese company) under the reference 14 PM-M201-T2 six-wire (Figure 6) or four-wire (Figure 5).

The Applicant has noticed that this hybrid stepper motor is capable of supplying electrical quantities which correspond in the direction of rotation and the angular displacement of the control member containing this stepping motor.

Referring to Figure 5, the 4-wire stepper motor includes a ROT rotor on the circumference of which are arranged teeth of alternately different polarities DR and magnetized by a permanent magnet included in the rotor.

The STA stator includes at least first to fourth poles magnetic PM1 to PM4 arranged around the rotor and having each of the DS teeth.

A first BA coil is wound in the same direction around first and third opposite poles PM1 and PM3.

A second coil BB is wound in the same direction around second and fourth opposite poles PM2 and PM4.

A terminal EA1 of the coil BA is connected to ground and the other terminal EA2 of the coil BA is connected to an amplifier shaping device followed by a CT1 peak detector suitable for delivering synchronous TR1 logic pulses with the analog signal present at terminal EA2.

Similarly, a terminal EB1 of the coil BB is connected to ground and the other terminal EB2 of the coil BB is connected to an amplifier shaping followed by a CT2 peak detector suitable for delivering synchronous TR2 logic pulses with the analog signal present at terminal EB2.

The advantage of such shaping and detection circuits CT1 and CT2 is to make the generation of pulses TR1 and TR2 logic independent of the rotation speed of the rotor while maintaining the synchronism of the pulses relative to the engine pitch.

This is the arrangement of the DS stator teeth relative to that teeth of the DR rotor which allows here the inductive generation in the coils BA and BB of the two pulse trains TR1 and TR2 depending on the rotation of the rotor.

Processing means UT, of microprocessor type, are connected to circuits CT1 and CT2 to process the two trains of pulses TR1 and TR2 and deduce the direction of rotation of the control member, its angular displacement, and therefore its rotation speed.

From these pulse trains, the processing means UT are thus able to select the display of a parameter using the electrical quantities supplied by the step-by-step engine.

In practice, the angular distance between two successive teeth DR of the rotor is different from the angular distance between two successive DS stator teeth, the motor pitch is thus proportional to this difference.

The choice of this difference makes it possible to define a number high of steps worth a few degrees.

For example, the step of the stepper motor is 1.8 °.

Surprisingly, the Applicant has observed that this engine step by step can also give a tactile effect to the organ control.

For this, the UT processing means are able to activate said first and second coils BA and BB for braking or inductively block the rotation of the control member by depending on the parameter displayed on the display means or in response to a predetermined condition.

For the activation of the coils BA and BB, the means of UT processing deliver through a CT3 control circuit a DC signal, from 0 to 12 Volts for example, at terminals EA2 and EB2 of the coils BA and BB.

Advantageously, the braking control circuit CT3 is with high internal impedance IM1 and IM2 so as not to influence reading the pulses on the coils BA and BB.

The stepping motor described with reference to FIG. 5 is of bipolar type insofar as the coils BA and BB are crossed by currents in both directions.

As a variant (FIG. 6), the stepping motor is of the type unipolar in which the coils are traversed by currents in one direction.

The unipolar stepper motor is here 6-wire. Its rotor ROT is identical to that described with reference to Figure 5. Its stator is different from that described with reference to the Figure 5 insofar as further coils BA and BB arranged identically to FIG. 5, it comprises now a third BC coil strongly coupled with the first BA coil and wound in the same direction as the first BA coil around the first and third poles magnetic PM1 and PM3 and a fourth BD coil strongly coupled with the second BB coil and wound in the same sense that the second BB coil around the second and fourth PM2 and PM4 magnetic poles.

The coils BA and BB are no longer activated by the means of treatment. On the contrary, the control circuit CT3 (without high internal impedance) now activates the third and fourth coils BC and BD to inductively brake or block the rotation of the ORG control member according to the parameter displayed on the display means or in response to a predetermined condition.

For the activation of the BC and BD coils, the means of UT processing deliver through the control circuit CT3 a DC signal, from 0 to 12 Volts for example, at terminals EC1 and ED1 of the coils BC and BD. EC2 and ED2 of the coils BC and BD are grounded.

Thanks to the controlled activation of the BA and BB coils (motor bipolar) or BC and BD (unipolar motor), the user feels on the ORG control unit a tactile effect which can be depending on the change of the item displayed and selected.

It should be noted that this tactile effect is completely different from conventional devices such as those known under the term "mouse" by the fact that the change in rubric caused in particular by the rotation of the organ of control can produce a braking of said control member or a hardening of the rotation of said control member.

It should be noted that the braking effect can be constant, or depending on certain circumstances such that the selected rubric, or the absence of action of the user for a predetermined time delay, or again the instantaneous speed printed on the control unit by the user.

When braking is dependent on the selected item, it is the microcomputer (means of treatment) managing the screen which will control the intensity of the braking as well as its duration by determining the control signal from the circuit CT3.

It should be noted that this programming makes it possible to avoid wrong choices to the user by preventing movement involuntary from the control unit which could trigger wrong selection.

In practice, when braking is constant, the user feels inductive "notches" offering some resistance to the rotation of the ORG control member.

Claims (8)

Dispensing device for tickets or the like, comprising: display means (ECR) of at least one parameter relating to the selection of the title; a freely rotating control member (ORG) capable of being driven by a user to select the display of said marker; processing means suitable for selecting the display of said parameter, using electrical quantities which correspond to the direction of rotation of the control member as well as to its angular displacement; validation means (VAL and ANN) of said display selection command; and means for issuing (DEL) a title in response to said validation, characterized in that the control member houses a stepping motor (MOT), of the hybrid type, comprising a rotor (ROT) whose rotation shaft corresponds to that of the control member and on the circumference of which are disposed teeth (DR) of alternately different polarities and magnetized by a permanent magnet, and a stator (STA) comprising at least first to fourth magnetic poles (PM1 to PM4) arranged around the rotor and each having teeth (DS), at least a first coil (BA) wound in the same direction around the first and third opposite poles (PM1 and PM3) and a second coil (BB) wound in the same direction around the second and fourth opposite poles (PM2 and PM4), the arrangement of the stator teeth (DS) relative to that of the rotor teeth (DR) allowing inductive generation in the first and second coils (BA and BB) of two trains of pulses (TR1 and TR2) as a function of rotor rotation, and the means processing set (CT1, CT2, UT) being connected to one of the terminals (EA2 and EB2) of the first and second coils (BA and BB) to receive and process these two trains of pulses and to deduce said electrical quantities therefrom. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that that the angular distance between two successive teeth (DR) of the rotor is different from the angular distance between two successive stator teeth (DS), the pitch of the motor being proportional to said difference. Device according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the stepping motor comprises a high number of steps worth a few degrees. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that that the pitch is of the order of 1.8 °. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the processing means (CT3, UT) are suitable for activating said first and second coils (BA and BB) to brake or block inductively the rotation of the control member (ORG) according to the parameter displayed on the display means or in response to a predetermined condition. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that that the stator (STA) further comprises a third coil (BC) strongly coupled with the first coil (BA) and wound in the same direction as the first coil (BA) around first and third magnetic poles (PM1 and PM3) and a fourth coil (BD) strongly coupled with the second coil (BB) and wound in the same direction as the second coil (BB) around the second and fourth magnetic poles (PM2 and PM4) and in that the processing means (CT3, UT) are suitable for activating said third and fourth coils (BC and BD) to inductively brake or block the rotation of the control unit (ORG) according to the parameter displayed on the display means or in response to a predetermined condition. Device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in what the processing means (CT3, UT) are capable of activate the first and second coils (BA and BB) or third and fourth coils (BC and BD) according to an intensity and a duration chosen according to the parameter displayed on the display means or in response to a predetermined condition. Device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that said braking corresponds to inductive steps intensity and duration programmable according to the parameter displayed on the display means or in response to a predetermined condition.

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