US2555176A - Coin collecting and registering - Google Patents

Description

May 29, 1951 G. M. WILCOX ETAL 2,555,176

com COLLECTING AND REGISTERINGDEVICE Filed Dec. 18, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 jezvezz fozfs Gr y///e M I OX I l/ak n" 5. .To.

May 29, 1951 I G. M. WILCOX ETAL 2,555,176

com COLLECTING AND REGISTERING nsvrcs Filed Dec. 18, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 29, 1951 G. M. WILCOX ET AL com COLLECTING ANDREGISTERING DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 18, 1944 aw V x C E @AM. AW mmm fi iiw May 29, 1951 G. M. WILCOX ETAL COIN COLLECTING AND REGISTERING DEVICE Filed Dec. 18, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 29, 195 1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COIN COLLECTING AND REGISTERING DEVICE Granville M. Wilcox, Lincoln, and Walter .S. Johnson, Providence, R. I., assignors to Max L. Grant, Providence, R. I.

Application December 18, 1944, Serial No. 568,716

8 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to apparatus for collecting and registering coins, and has reference to a novel construction particularly suitable for bus and trolley use.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an apparatus into which any number of coins of all denominations may be dropped or deposited, the coins being selectively registered and totalized.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus in which deposited coins are selectively registered and then positioned in open view for visual inspection.

,Still another object is to provide an apparatus of the type described which includes a removable totalizing counter mechanism, whereby the bus or trolley conductor is responsible for an individually issued counter mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a complementary light system for isually indicating the registry of the individual coins dropped or deposited in the apparatus.

An additional object of the invention is to pro- I vide a coin registering apparatus which does not require resetting or other attention on the part of the conductor after a registration has been completed.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, the invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in

conjunction with the accompanying drawings,

and-more specifically defined .in the .claims appended thereto.

In the drawings:

Fig.1 is a front elevation of the novel coin collector and register apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a left side view of Fig. l, the counter mechanism being removed and parts of the coin hopper being in section;

Fig. 3 is a perspective. view of the removable counter mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 2, the coin hopper .being removed to expose the selector guide plate; Fig. 5 is a. viewsimilarto Fig. 4, the selector .guide plate being removed to expose the selector mechanism;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on the line l-.--!

of Fig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a rear view of Fig. 3; Fig. 9 is an enlarged .detail plan view, parts being omitted;

Fig. 10 is an enlargedrear elevation of Fig. 5, parts being omitted;

Fig. 11 is a side view of the coin receptacle for receiving the registered coins;

Fig. 12 is a top plan view of Fig. 11; and,

Fig. 13 is a detail perspective View of the .coin discharge mechanism.

"It has been found desirable to provide a coin collector and register which is particularly suitable for bus and trolley use. To this end, we

have devised an apparatus which includes a coin into a collecting compartment from which they may be removed when convenient.

The coin hopper The coin collector and register is housed in a frame It), see Fig. 1, which is preferably of box form and includes metal standards H and cross bars [2 of angle formation, and side Walls of suitable materials set into the standards and cross bars, it being preferred to have the front wall of glass. The standards are extended vertically as indicated by the reference numeral [3 .to detachably receive a coin hopper M which nests within theextensions 13.

The hopper has a large central and generally conicalentrance mouth I 5, as shown in Fig. 2, which leads toan angularlypositionedcompl annel L6, wherebyany number of ,coins ,of ,anysize may be dropped or deposited into the hopper mouth to pass downwardly in sequence into thechannel 16. 'The hopper thusfunctions as a coin receiver which stacks the reoeived coins regardless of their size or value,,and the angular channel It prevents removalof or tampering withthe coins. therein.

The coin selector mechanism After the coins ,have been stacked, they are selectively distributed for registration. As shown in Figs. 4 to 6, a guide plate I1 is positioned below the hopper, the uide plate being preferably of metal and having an upstanding guide channel It which is positioned directly under the lower end of thehopper channel liwhereby the coins dropped ,or deposited in vthe hopper mouth become stacked, in the, guide channel; 18. he guide plate I] is releasably ,imounted on a selector plate [9 by means of spring pressed retainingscrews 2|], see Fig. 2, the hopper having openings or recesses ill to seat over the upper ends of the retaining screws. The use of spring pressed retaining screws and a metal guide plate permits a slight give if a coin is bent or deformed, the coin in such case raising the metal plate slightly so as not to block the coin movement.

The selector plate l9, see Figs. 5, 6, is recessed or countersunk to provide a space 22 in which a centrally pivotedmovable arm 23 may revolve, the arm being bevelled on one side as indicated at 24. The plate [9 has a plurality ofcoin receiving openings 25 of different and graduated width arranged in an annular path, each opening having a ramp or bevelledentrance slide 26 at its forward end. As thearm 23 rotates in a clockwise direction it contacts the lowermost coin of the stack in the channel l8, see Fig. 6,

and pushes it forwardly before it in an annular ,of the arm is sufiicient to keep the coins outwardly over the openings. I

The coin which passes downwardly through an opening of the proper width falls into aretention chamber 21, there being one chamber for each opening, see Fig. 9. Thechambers 21, see Fig. 7, are preferably made of insulating material, such as suitable plastic, theouter side 28 being of metal to be electrically grounded, and are secured to the under side of the selector plate in any desired manner. Amovable partition 29 is hingedly mounted in each chamber on ahinge pin 30 secured in the side walls, and has aforward tongue 3| which functions as a releasable bottom for the chamber and which slants forwardly downwardly towards themetal side 28, but does not touch the metal side, and arear extension 32 which projects outwardly through a suitable opening in the rear wall of the chamber, aleaf spring 33 being mounted on thehinge pin 30 for releasably retaining the partition in coin holding position. Theends 34 of the rear extensions are bent downwardly to be periodically engaged by a revolvingcam 35,

as shown in Fig. 7, to swing the partition for releasing a coin deposited thereon.

The coin selector operating mechanism The mechanism for operating thearm 23 and thecam 35 is shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Asupport plate 36 is mounted beneath the selector plate by means of four spaced bolts 31, and has a depending electric motor 38 secured thereto,

gear 44 being mounted on. the end of the worm gear shaft and meshing with the bevel gear to impart rotation to aworm 45 which is keyed tical shaft 41, see Fig. 7, having thecam 35 keyed T thereof. Thecam 35 is displaced counterclockwise with respect to thearm 23 to provide the" proper time interval between the selecting of a 'into a collection chamber 60 The coin register mechanism Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, a pair ofvertical support channels 48 are secured to the front side standards II to slidingly receive abacking 49 on which a series of electrically operated regis-,

ters orcounters 50 are mounted. The backing is made of non-conducting material, and each counter is connected by wiring to a central conductor 5!, see Fig. 8, and to individualspring strip conductors 52. When the counter backing is slid into position in thechannels 48 thespring strip conductors 52 each contact acontact button 53, see Fig. 2, to form the individual counter circuits, and thebar 54, which is attached to the central conductor 5|, contacts thebuttons 55 to form the motor connections.

'Eachcoin chamber partition 29 is wired to aconnection 53, see Fig. 10, which is mounted on a non-conductor plate 51 mounted on two of the holding bolts 31, theconnections 56 being in turn connected with thecontact buttons 53, the parts being so arranged that when thecam 35 moves the partition to release a coin the circuit is completed by the coin bridging the gap between the partition and thegrounding wall 28 of the chamber.

The completing of the circuit causes the proper counter ,to be actuated; and thelights 58, see Fig. l, are included in the counter circuits so that a light flashes for each coin registered, the lights being preferably of different colors to indicate different coin values. Power is supplied to the apparatus through suitable wiring 59, see Fig. 2.

The electric circuit is thus from the source of supply, through the grounded frame and the motor shaft, through the revolving cams, through the movable partition, then a deposited coin to the metal side of the chamber, through the counters and the lights, and back to the source of supply, the circuit being complete only when a coin is in the particular chamber designed to receive it.

The coin collecting mechanism When a coin passes through the hopper, the selector, and the proper coin chamber, it falls which has two spacedinclined troughs 6|, see Figs. 11 and 12, for receiving the coin and guiding it to rest on a front holding plate 62 which is hinged to the collection chamber as indicated at 63. Aspring 64 is mounted on asupport rod 55, between afixed arm 66 through which the rod passes, and the rear of the holding plate, to releasably retain the holding plate in coin holding position; a shaft 61 is mounted in the sides of the frame, and has an arm 88 secured thereto which engages the under side of the plate 62 by means of a manually 'actuatable extension 62a directly below thespring 64, the shaft extending outwardly beyond the frame as shown in Fig. 1 and having afinger engageable trip 69 keyed thereto, whereby pressing on the trip turns the shaft and swings the plate to discharge the coins thereon. 'When'the coins are thus discharged they fall into acollector 19 which has a releasable bottom plate H mounted to swing on ahinge rod 12, aspring 13 being also mounted on the hinge rod to normally I hold the bottom plate in coin retaining position.

Afinger tab 14 is secured to the under surface of the bottom plate for manual actuation against the tension of thespring 13 in order to permit release of the retained coins into the conductors hand.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is obvious that changes in the material, the shape, size and cooperation of the parts, may be made to suit the requirements for different coin collector and register designs, and that different features of the invention may be utilized in other types of coin collecting and registering apparatus, without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A selector construction for a coin collector comprising a guide channel adapted to receive coins in stacked relation, a selector plate having a plurality of annularly positioned openings, a retention chamber below each opening, each chamber having a releasable coin retaining plate, a rotatable shaft extending through said selector plate, an arm keyed to the upper end of the shaft and adapted to selectively pass the stacked coins over said openings in sequence until the coin enters an opening of the width corresponding to the coin width, and a cam keyed to said shaft in spaced angular relation to said arm and adapted to release the coin retaining plates subsequent to the entry of the coins into said chambers.

2. In combination, a coin receiving hopper, coin receiving compartments for receiving coins of different sizes, a selector for selectively transferring coins from said hopper to said compartments, a coin collector in communication with said compartments, hingedly mounted coin holding means for holding coins in said compartments, a coin register, and mechanism for periodically swinging the holding means to coin releasing position and actuating the coin register.

3. In combination, a coin receiving hopper, coin receiving compartments for receiving coins of different sizes, a selector for selectively transferring coins from said hopper to said compartments, a coin collector in communication with said compartments, hingedly mounted coin holding means for holding coins in said compartments, 2. coin register, and mechanism for periodically swinging the holding means to coin releasing position and closing an electric circuit for actuating the coin register.

4. In combination, a coin receiving hopper, coin receiving compartments for receiving coins of different sizes, a selector for selectively transferring coins from said hopper to said compartments, a coin collector in communication with said compartments, hingedly mounted coin holding means for holding coins in said compartments, a coin register, and mechanism for periodically swinging the holding means to coin releasing position and closing an electric circuit through a released coin for actuating the coin register.

5. In combination, a coin receiving hopper, means for stacking the coins deposited in the hopper, coin receiving compartments for receiving coins of different sizes, a selector for selectively transferring coins from said stacking means to said compartments, a coin collector in communication with said compartments, hingedly mounted coin holding means for holding coins in said compartments, a coin register, and mechanism for periodically swinging the holding means to coin releasing position and actuating the coin register.

6. In combination, a coin receiving hopper, means for stacking the coins deposited in the hopper, coin receiving compartments for receiving coins of different sizes, a selector for selectively transferring coins from said stacking means to said compartments, a coin collector in communication with said compartments, hingedly mounted coin holding means for holding coins in said compartments, a coin register, and mechanism for periodically swinging the holding means and closing an electric circuit for actuating the coin register.

7. In combination, a coin receiving hopper, means for Stacking the coins deposited in the hopper, coin receiving compartments for receiving coins of different sizes, a selector for selectively transferring coins from said stacking means to said compartments, a coin collector in communication with said compartments, hingedly mounted coin holding means for holding coins in said compartments, a coin register, mechanism for periodically swinging the holding means to coin releasing position and actuating the coin register, said selector including a disk having graduated transfer openings respectively communicating with the coin receiving compartments, and a rotatable device for transferring individual coins from the stacking means over the transfer openings 8. In combination, a coin receiving hopper, means for stacking the coins deposited in the hopper, coin receiving compartments for receiving coins of different sizes, a selector for selectively transferring coins from said stacking means to said compartments, a coin collector in communication with said compartments, hingedly mounted coin holding means for holding coins in said compartments, a coin register, and mechanism for periodically swinging the holding means to coin releasing position and closing an electric circuit for actuating the coin register, said selector including a disk having graduated transfer openings respectively communicating with the coin receiving compartments, and a rotatable device for transferring individual coins from the stacking means over the transfer openings.

GRANVILLE M. WILCOX. WALTER S. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 626,528 Debremond June 6, 1899 861,157 Brewster July 23, 1907 989,238 Drawbaugh Apr. 11, 1911 1,028,611 Sattley June 4, 1912 1,080,738 Voglesong Dec. 9, 1913 1,210,732 Voglesong Jan. 2, 1917 1,297,274 Thompson Mar. 11, 1919 1,325,766 Thompson Dec. 23, 1919 1,927,265 Hume Sept. 19, 1933

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