INTERMEDIATE COIN STORAGE WITH TRANSLATIONAL MOVEMENT FOR PUBLIC TELEPHONES

Abstract: The deposit comprises a number of disc-shaped elements or partitions (2) arranged parallel to each other to form a fully open cylindrical body (1) with its longitudinal axis horizontal, so that the partitions or elements (2) define slots (3) for the coins (4) which arrive from the validator/selector (5), and with said coins (4) resting on a false floor (6) which envelopes a certain angle of the bottom perimeter of the deposit formed by the cylindrical body (1). This false floor (6) is provided with a groove (8) so that when said floor turns in one sense a coin (4) will fall towards the collection hopper, while when the floor (6) turns in the opposite sense all the remaining coins will fall towards the return hopper.

Description: OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a coin deposit with translational motion, applicable in public telephones, meant for use as an intermediate and provisional storage deposit for coins that have been validated by the corresponding selector installed in the public telephone where the deposit is applied, in order to collect the stored coins or to simultaneously return all the coins in said deposit if they are not charged during the use of the telephone. The fundamental object of the invention is to provide an intermediate, provisional storage deposit for the coins validated by the selector of a public telephone, with structural characteristics such that it may provide full operational reliability and a dramatic size reduction as compared to conventional deposits provided for these purposes. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are two types of coin deposits used as intermediate or provisional storage deposits in public telephones, that is, placed between the corresponding selector meant to validate the coins and the collection or return deposit. Provisional deposits are also designed for a rotational or translational motion, and in either case their size must take into account the thickness and number of coins multiplied by a factor of four in order to perform the collection and return actions, which results in the oversizing of the device. In addition, conventional deposits with a translational motion require that the coin return be performed in a specific position of the deposit. In this sense may be cited Spanish Invention Patents ES 2004535 and ES 2004536; although the mechanism related to in these patents is conceived for its use in coin-operated game machines they obviously use deposits with a translational motion provided with compartments which may be placed opposite the outlet of the selector and capable of routing the collected coins to a deposit, or excess coins to a return deposit. Also, it mav be cited the USA patent US 4893706 that describes a mechanism for the reception and collection of coins in coin-operated machines, which consists of a frame that can be moved along guides or rails, located immediately under the coin selector of the machine. This frame includes a series of consecutive chambers, providing a means of opening and closing at the open bottom and lateral wall of these chambers. Nevertheless, there is no a means to achieve the effect of just one coin being directed to the collection chamber. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The deposit taught presents a number of structural characteristics that provide a device much smaller than other coin deposits designed for the same purpose, as well as allowing returning excess coins in any position along the translational path of the deposit. More specifically, the intermediate coin deposit with translational motion for public telephones taught by the invention is characterized by a number of discs placed parallel to each other with a separation slightly greater than the thickness of the coins, with all the discs connected to each other to form a cylindrical body with a horizontal axis and a longitudinal groove at its top, so that the discs define a transverse segmentation of such a cylindrical body, with an indeterminate number of elements which create an equal number of slots for housing and placing the coins which arrive from the corresponding validator/selector, with the special characteristic that the coins rest on a false floor defined by a cylindrical segment with a length twice as long as that of the cylindrical body of the deposit itself. The coins stored in the cylindrical deposit can meet this groove during the translation motion of the deposit, resulting in the fall of this coin after the false floor turns in a given sense. This fall determines the collection of the previously validated coin. If however the coins remaining in the deposit are to be returned the false floor will turn in the opposite sense, so that all the coins fall into the return hopper. The maximum number of coins admitted by the deposit is naturally determined by the number of disc elements and therefore of slots determined by these, with the coins placed sequentially and randomly on said deposit slots as a function of the translational motion of the deposit. As mentioned above, collection is performed by placing the coin to be collected opposite the collection groove provided in the false floor, with a subsequent turn of this false floor about its axis, while the remaining coins rest on this false floor during its turn, remaining in the deposit until a later collection or return as they are not located opposite said groove. The size of the deposit is a function of twice the thickness and the number of coins, unlike provisional deposits which are sized as a function of four times the thickness and number of coins in order to perform the collection and return operations. With this intermediate deposit meant to be installed in coin-operated public telephones, the amount charged for the conversation, in relation to the validated coins inserted by the user, is adjusted as closely as possible to the actual cost of said conversation, allowing the simultaneous return of all the coins not used during the conversation. The translational and therefore longitudinal motion of the deposit is achieved by the action of a motor, so that the coin to be colleted is placed opposite the collection groove provided in the false floor, with this floor then turning about its own axis in one sense to make the coin fall into the collection hopper; to return the coin the deposit must be placed at any point along the false floor, with the floor then turning in the opposite sense as for collection so that all the coins in the deposit fall into the return hopper. The device is also provided with a deposit anti-fraud system consisting of a worm gear which acts as the cylinder axis and a set of gears or toothed wheels which allows the false floor to turn, such that the deposit cannot be moved manually, thus preventing access to the coins contained in said deposit. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The characteristics of the present invention will be better understood in view of the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment, where for purposes of illustration only the following is shown: Figure 1 shows an cross sectional enlargement of the access of a coin arriving from the selector/validator to the intermediate deposit in accordance with the object of the present invention. Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional enlargement as that of the previous figure with the coin now resting on the false floor of the deposit. Figure 3 shows the false floor turning in one sense, so that the coin opposite its groove falls towards the collection hopper while the rest of the coins remain in the deposit. Figure 4 shows the same detail of the previous figure with the false floor turning in the opposite sense, so that all of the coins in the deposit are simultaneously returned. Also visible is a section of the worm gear that forms part of the fraud prevention mechanism. Figure 5 shows a longitudinal section view of the detail of figure 1 where the worm gear is also included. Figure 6 shows another longitudinal sectional view of the detail shown in figure 2, so that in this figure 6 and in figure 5 can be seen the configuration of the deposit, its length with respect to the false floor and the opposition of the various slots of the deposit with the slots of the validator/selector as a result of the formers translational motion. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION As shown in the above-described figures, the deposit of the invention, labeled with the number (1), comprises a number of thin disc-shaped partitions or bodies (2) placed parallel to and equidistant from each other, forming a general cylindrical body with its axis horizontal where the separation of the discoid elements (2) is made by corresponding slots (3) in each of which can enter a coin (4) arriving from the validator/selector (5). The cylindrical body that defines the deposit (1) is constructed so that it can move in a longitudinal sense, that is, in a translational sense, so that it can be positioned under the validator/selector (5) and each coin (4) occupies a slot (3) of the deposit defined by the cylindrical body (1). To prevent the coins (4) from falling, as the slots (3) of the cylindrical body (1) are open on their bottom, a surface is provided in the form of a false floor (6), which surface also corresponds to a cylinder sector with a given perimeter angle with respect to it, so that the false floor (6) defines the support surface for the coins (4) and has is twice as long as the cylindrical deposit (1). This false floor (6) can turn about its horizontal axis (7) and is provided with a central groove (8), so that when a coin (4) of the deposit (1) is opposite said groove (8) and the false floor (6) turns in one sense said coin (4) will fall, as shown in figure 3, corresponding to the collection position, whereas when the false floor (6) turns in the opposite sense as shown in figure 4, all the coins (4) in the deposit (1) will fall, as in this case the rotation will be greater and all the coins (4) will thus drop. The turning angle for the collection process is smaller, so that only the coin (4) opposite the groove (8) will fall, while the remaining coins (4) remain on the cylindrical surface defined by said false floor (6). Naturally, the false floor (6) envelops a certain angle of the lower perimeter of the cylindrical deposit (1), as shown in figures 1 to 4, for example. A further fact worth noting is that due to the double length of the false floor (6) with respect to the deposit (1), the latter may move along the length of the false floor (6) to allow returning the coins in any of the end positions or in any intermediate position, which makes independent the position of the deposit from the possibility of returning the coins. It is equally notable that since the disc-shaped partitions or bodies (2) which define the slots (3) for the coins (4) may have a minimal thickness, in addition to the design of its floor (6), it is possible to considerably reduce the size of the deposit compared to conventional deposits used for this purpose. A further important characteristic is the fraud prevention mechanism of the deposit, which prevents the external displacement of the cylinder (1), or a manual turning of the false floor (6) in order to access the coins contained in it. For this purpose a worm gear (9) is provided which acts as the shaft of the cylinder (1) and allows its longitudinal displacement, as well as a system of gears or toothed wheels which allows the rotation of the false floor (6) so that the irreversible characteristic of the gears makes it impossible to move the deposit along the horizontal axis (7). Furthermore, it is impossible to manually rotate the toothed wheel which turns to allow the displacement of the floor (6) without breaking the teeth of the screw to which it is engaged.

Claims: Intermediate coin deposit with translational motion for public telephones, designed to be used as an intermediate and provisional deposit or the coins validated by the selector of a public telephone, until said coins are collected or returned, comprising a series of thin disc-shaped elements or partitions (2) placed parallel to each other, forming a cylindrical body (1) where the separation of the partitions or elements (2) define slots (3) for the corresponding coins (4) which arrive from the validator/selector (5), characterized in that part of the bottom of said cylindrical body (1) which defines the deposit is enveloped by a cylindrical segment (6) which surrounds a certain angle of the bottom perimeter of said deposit (1), defining a support surface for the coins (4), and provided with a central groove (8) which can be placed opposite any of the slots (3) containing the coins (4) during the translational motion of the cylinder (1) which defines the deposit so that this false floor (6) may turn about its axis to allow when turning in one sense the passage of a coin to be collected towards the corresponding collection hopper after falling through said groove (8), and when turning in the other sense the passage of all the coins contained in the cylindrical deposit (1) to the return hopper. Intermediate coin deposit with translational motion for public telephones, as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the cylinder (1) which defines the coin deposit (4) has a length which is half of the length of the false floor (6), thus allowing the translational motion of the former and the opposition of any of the slots (3) to the groove (8) of the false floor (6), as well as the discharge of all the coins (4) into the return hopper in any position of the cylinder (1). Intermediate coin deposit with translational motion for public telephones, as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the worm gear (9) which forms the shaft of the cylinder (1) and allows its longitudinal motion prevents, in combination with a system of gears or toothed wheels, the external manual displacement of the cylinder or the manual rotation of the false floor (6) in order to access the coins contained in the deposit.

Inventors: MARTIN GOMEZ DAMASO, MARTIN GOMEZ, DAMASO, MARTIN GOMEZ, Dámaso
Applicants: SIEMENS SA, SIEMENS S.A.
Application year: 2000
Main classification: G07F5
IPC codes: G07F1, G07F9, G07F5, G07D1