Abstract: Made up of a step of preparing a map expressing a correlation between solid phase percentage and viscosity of a slurry-form semi-solid metal (27) for a given metal composition; a step of setting a target viscosity corresponding to a target solid phase percentage using this map; a viscosity measuring step of measuring the viscosity of a semi-solid metal in a vessel (13) while cooling it; and a step of carrying out cooling until this viscosity reaches the target viscosity, by these steps being carried out in from the preparation of the map expressing the correlation between solid phase percentage and viscosity of the semi-solid metal to the end of cooling of the semi-solid metal the solid phase percentage of the semi-solid metal is made to match the target solid phase percentage.

Abstract: This bill device is constituted of a relatively elongated casing. A bill insertion slit is formed substantially in the center of this casing in its longitudinal direction. A first U-shaped bill conveying passage communicating with the bill insertion slit is provided in one half of the casing and a second U-shaped bill conveying passage communicating with this first U-shaped bill conveying passage is provided in another half of the casing. A bill discrimination section is disposed in the former half of the first U-shaped bill conveying passage and a bill accumulating device is disposed in the latter half of the second bill conveying passage such that a plurality of bills after discrimination are retained in the two U-shaped bill conveying passages.

Abstract: A bill accepting device judges whether a deposited bill is a true bill or not and produces a true bill signal if it is a true bill. A device such as a vending machine utilizing this bill accepting device receives this true bill signal, counts the number of the deposited bill and, upon confirming that the counting has been properly made, produces a true bill confirmation signal. The bill accepting device receives the true bill confirmation signal and thereby confirms that the true bill signal has been properly used. Thereupon, the bill accepting device stores the deposited bill. If this confirmation has not been made, the deposited bill is automatically returned notwithstanding that it is a true bill.

Abstract: A gift coupon detectable by a bill sorter, comprising a rectangular paper having a width capable of being inserted into a travelling path of the bill sorter and also having predetermined characters and design, the gift coupon further having: a first data train comprising data units formed by a magnetic ink and arranged in a row at predetermined intervals, and a second data train comprising data units corresponding respectively to the data units of the first data train, formed by a magnetic ink and arranged in a row, data units in predetermined positions of the second data train being cut off to provide blank units to record data required for the gift coupon such as the significance of an amount of money, the name of commodity to be exchanged, etc.

Abstract: This bill accepting device comprises a bill discrimination section for discriminating whether an inserted bill is true or not, an escrow section capable of retaining a bill accepted by the bill discrimination section as a true bill and returning the retained bill, a stocker section for storing the bill accepted by the bill discrimination section as a true bill, and passage switching means for causing a bill passage in the bill discrimination section to communicate selectively either with the escrow section or with the stocker section. The passage switching section normally communicates the bill discrimination section with the escrow section to enable an inserted bill to be retained in the escrow section in a state in which the bill can be readily returned. When the escrow section has become full, the passage is switched so that the inserted bill is guided from the bill discrimination section to the stocker section.