Abstract:
A cash box includes a housing with a bill storage compartment located in the housing. A coin sorter mechanism is supported by the housing for sorting coins of different denominations. A plurality of coin storage compartments are located in the housing for storing sorted coins. Each coin storage compartment stores coins of a common denomination. The plurality of coin storage compartments communicate with the coin sorter mechanism. The bill storage compartment includes a plurality of sections, each intended to hold a bill of a particular denomination. The housing preferably includes a base which accommodates the plurality of coin storage compartments as well as the coin sorter, and a door which accommodates the several sections of the bill storage compartment. A lift out bill tray may also be accommodated in the door.

Description:
[0001]    This application bases its priority on Provisional Application Serial No. 60/181,952 dated Feb. 11, 2000. 
     
    
     
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a cash box. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable cash box having coin sorting features.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    Portable cash boxes are generally known, as are coin sorters. In a cash box, various compartments are designed to hold varying denominations of currency and varying denominations of coinage. A user places one or more bills or one or more coins in the particular compartment meant to accommodate that denomination of currency or coin. The currency and coins can then be withdrawn from those compartments as needed. In a coin sorting device, a user places one or more coins in a hopper. The hopper is connected to a coin separating mechanism which separates the coins in the coin sorter. Coins of a particular denomination are directed into an appropriate one of a plurality of sorted coin storage containers. When desired, coins can be removed from the sorted coin storage containers, either one at a tine or in a stack.  
           [0004]    It would be desirable to provide a portable cash box which has coin sorting features so as to allow the ready separation of coins into sorted coin compartments while at the same time allowing currency to be separated into chambers holding various denominations. It would also be desirable to provide a portable cash box which allows the ready dispensing of coins, one at a time, from sorted coin compartments and also allows the removal of all of the coins held in a particular compartment.  
           [0005]    It has therefore been considered desirable to develop a new and improved portable cash box with a coin sorter feature which would overcome the foregoing difficulties and others while providing better and more advantageous overall results.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    In accordance with the present invention, a cash box is provided.  
           [0007]    The cash box comprises a housing and a bill storage compartment located in the housing. A coin sorter mechanism is supported by the housing for sorting coins of different denominations. A motor actuates the coin sorter mechanism. A plurality of coin storage compartments are located in the housing for storing sorted coins. Each coin storage compartment stores coins of a common denomination. The plurality of coin storage compartments communicate with the coin sorter mechanism.  
           [0008]    According to another aspect of the present invention, a portable coin and bill storage box is provided.  
           [0009]    More particularly in accordance with this aspect of the invention, the box comprises a housing comprising a plurality of walls. A bill storage compartment is located in the housing for accommodating bills. A coin sorter mechanism is supported by the housing for sorting coins of different denominations. A plurality of coin storage compartments are located in the housing for storing sorted coins. Each coin storage compartment stores coins of a common denomination. The plurality of coin storage compartments communicate with the coin sorter mechanism. The housing comprises a base which accommodates the plurality of coin storage compartments and a door which accommodates the bill storage compartment.  
           [0010]    According to another aspect of the present invention, a cash box is provided.  
           [0011]    More particularly in accordance with this aspect of the invention, the cash box comprises a housing comprising a base portion and a door. A coin sorter mechanism is located in the housing for sorting coins of different denominations. A motor actuates the coin sorter mechanism. A plurality of coin storage compartments are located in the housing for storing sorted coins. Each coin storage compartment stores coins of a common denomination. The plurality of coin storage compartments communicate with the coin sorter mechanism. The door of the cash box can be selectively closed on the base to prevent access to the coin storage compartments.  
           [0012]    In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a portable coin and bill storage box is provided.  
           [0013]    More particularly in accordance with this aspect of the invention, the box comprises a housing comprising a base and a door. A plurality of bill storage compartments is located in one of the base and the door. A plurality of coin storage compartments is located in one of the base and the door. Each coin storage compartment stores coins of a common denomination. A joint is provided for pivotally mounting the door to the base. When the door is pivoted to a closed position in relation to the base, access is prevented to the plurality of bill storage compartments and to the plurality of coin storage compartments.  
           [0014]    One aspect of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved cash box.  
           [0015]    Another aspect of the present invention is the provision of a portable cash box having a currency compartment and a coin compartment.  
           [0016]    Still another aspect of the present invention is the provision of a cash box having a motorized coin sorting apparatus.  
           [0017]    A further aspect of the present invention is the provision of a cash box having a currency compartment which accommodates various denominations of currency in separate receptacles and also accommodates various denominations of coins in separate chambers.  
           [0018]    A still further aspect of the present invention is the provision of a cash box having a reciprocating coin pushing mechanism for feeding coins, one at a time, to a coin sorting ramp.  
           [0019]    A yet further aspect of the present invention is the provision of a cash box which can be selectively closed and locked and which can be opened to reveal a currency compartment as well as a coin compartment. The currency compartment preferably has a removable tray and the coin compartment preferably includes a transparent front wall to allow a ready counting of the coinage held. Preferably, the front wall can be selectively pivoted down to allow access to a stack of coins held in the compartment.  
           [0020]    An additional aspect of the present invention is the provision of a cash box which allows the manual dispensing of coins, one at a time, from coin holding chambers which, respectively, hold coins of varying denominations.  
           [0021]    Still other benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the following detailed description.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]    The invention may take form in certain components and structures, a preferred embodiment of which will be illustrated in the accompanying drawings and wherein:  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cash box according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, with the cash box being shown in a closed condition;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the cash box of FIG. 1 in an open condition with a currency tray of the cash box being shown in an unfolded condition;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2B is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the cash box of FIG. 2A;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the cash box of FIG. 2A with the currency tray being shown in a folded condition and spaced away from a lid of the cash box;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4A is an exploded perspective view of a coin sorting apparatus of the cash box of FIG. 1;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4B is an enlarged assembled view of the coin sorting apparatus of FIG. 4A;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the coin sorting apparatus of FIG. 4B; and  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the coin sorting apparatus of FIG. 5 along line  6 - 6 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0031]    Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for purposes of limiting same, FIG. 1 shows a cash box according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The cash box includes a housing  10  comprising a door  12  and a lid  14 , both pivotally secured on a main case  16  along with a handle  18 . Of course, any suitable type of handle-like structure, such as recessed hand grips, can be employed. A lock  24  is used to selectively secure the door  12  in a closed position on the main case  16 . It should also be appreciated that the lock  24  can simultaneously serve to secure the lid  14  in a closed position, via a catch  26  (FIG. 3).  
         [0032]    With reference now also to FIG. 2A, a pair of hinges  30  (only one of which is visible), is used to pivotally mount the door  12  to the main case  16 . Defined on an inside surface of the door  12  is a bill compartment  32 . Selectively housed in the bill compartment  32  is a removable currency tray  36 . The removable tray includes a first bill receptacle  38  and a second bill receptacle  40  which are separated from each other by a divider wall  42 . Located along a left edge of the tray  36  are a pair of hinges  44  which pivotally mount a first wing or extension tray section  46 . The first extension tray section houses a third bill receptacle  48 . A clip  50  extends over a portion of the third bill receptacle  48  in order to prevent bills or currency, such as at  52 , from falling out of the third receptacle when it is rotated 180° into its storage position as shown in FIG. 3. Located along an opposite edge of the tray  36  are a pair of second hinges  56  for pivotally mounting a second wing or extension tray section  58 . The second extension tray section includes a fourth bill receptacle  60 . Overlying a portion of the fourth bill receptacle  60  is a clip  61 . As with the first extension tray section  46 , the second extension tray section  58  rotates between an open position illustrated in FIG. 2A and a closed position illustrated in FIG. 3. In the closed position, the first extension tray section  46  overlies the first bill receptacle  38  whereas the second extension tray section  58  overlies the second bill receptacle  40 . As is evident from FIG. 2A, the removable tray  36  can therefore accommodate currency of four different denominations such as, e.g., 1, 5, and 10 and 20 dollar bills, if the cash box is used with U.S. currency. As shown in FIG. 3, the bill compartment  32  located beneath the removable tray  36  can accommodate 50 and 100 dollar bills, or checks, in a normally hidden manner. To this end, a wall  62  divides the bill compartment into fifth and sixth bill receptacles  63  and  64 .  
         [0033]    The housing  10  not only comprises a bill compartment  32  but also a coin compartment  70  (FIG. 3). With reference now to FIG. 2B, defined in the coin compartment are four different coin chambers of successively increasing size. If using U.S. coinage, these can be a dimes chamber  72 , a pennies chamber  74 , a nickels chamber  76 , and a quarters chamber  78 , as shown in FIG. 2A. These respective chambers are defined between a back wall  82  and a transparent front wall  84 . The front wall  84  is pivotally mounted on the main case  16  via hinges (not visible) located adjacent a lower edge of the front wall and locked in a use position by lock members  86 . In this way, the front wall  84  can pivot downwardly so as to open the four coin chambers  72 ,  74 ,  76 , and  78  of the coin compartment  70 . The scalloped nature of the front wall  84  defines a hand hold opening  88  along an upper edge of the front wall, so as to allow selective manual manipulation of the front wall. As may be appreciated from FIG. 2A, the front wall  84  is contoured in the same manner as the back wall  82  so as to define substantially cylindrical coin holding chambers  72 - 78 .  
         [0034]    With reference again to FIG. 3, a hinge assembly  100  is located along one edge of the lid  14  so as to allow the lid to be selectively rotated from a closed position illustrated in FIG. 1 to an open position shown in FIG. 3. In the open position, access can be had to a top wall  102  of the coin compartment  70 . In order to allow the lid  14  to be moved, the handle  18  is rotated from a vertical position, as illustrated in FIG. 1, to a horizontal position as illustrated in FIG. 3.  
         [0035]    A coin funnel  110  is located in the top wall  102 . The funnel leads to an inlet aperture  112  which in turn communicates with a coin sorting assembly  114  as illustrated in FIG. 4B. The coin funnel  110  directs unsorted coins deposited therein to the coin sorting assembly  114 . The assembly receives unsorted coins and directs each coin to an appropriate one of the plurality of coin chambers  72 ,  74 ,  76 ,  78 . With reference now to FIG. 4A, the coin sorting assembly  114  includes a ramp  120  having an upper end  122  and a lower end  124 . The ramp is conventional and is disposed within the housing  10  so that it slopes downward from the upper end  122  thereof to the lower end  124  thereof. In this way, coins deposited on the upper end of the ramp  120  slide by gravity downwardly towards the lower end  124 . The ramp  120  is made from plastic or another suitable conventional material having a sufficiently low coefficient to friction to allow coins to slide thereon. The ramp  120  is so oriented in the housing  10  that coins will slide thereon in a smooth, uninterrupted fashion at a moderate rate of speed.  
         [0036]    The ramp  120  includes a plurality of different sized apertures  126 ,  128 ,  130 , and  132 . The apertures are sized to correspond to the diameter of, respectively, a dime, a penny, a nickel, and a quarter, if U.S. coinage is sorted. The apertures are so sized that only coins smaller than a particular diameter will pass therethrough. By arranging the apertures  126 - 132  in order of increasing size from the upper end  122  of the ramp to the lower end  124  thereof, the largest coins being sorted will pass over the smaller apertures until they fall through an aperture sized for them. In sum, the ramp  120  will sort coins in accordance with their diameter. The ramp  120  is positioned vertically above a coin chute assembly  140  (FIG. 4B).  
         [0037]    The coin chute assembly includes four coin chutes  142 ,  144 ,  146 , and  148  which are respectively sized so as to accommodate coinage of a diameter which can pass through the respective apertures  126 ,  128 ,  130 , and  132 . The coin chute assembly is preferably defined by a front housing portion  152  and a rear housing portion  154  which are connected to each other by suitable conventional fasteners  156 . If desired, an adhesive can also be employed for this purpose. Each coin chute  142 - 148  communicates with a respective one of the coin chambers  72 - 78 . As best illustrated in FIG. 6, the coins fall on edge through the chutes  142 - 148 .  
         [0038]    The coin sorting assembly also comprises a separator mechanism  160  including a motor  162  having an output shaft connected to a gear train  164 . The gear train is connected to a reciprocating arm  166  which, in turn, is connected to a separator plate  168 . With reference now again to FIG. 4A, the plate overlies an opening  176  located in a first motor housing half  178 . The first motor housing half is, in turn, connected to a second motor housing half  180 . The motor  162  and the gearing  164  are mounted between the two housing halves  178  and  180 . As is evident from FIG. 5, the arm  166  protrudes out of the first housing half. The entire separator mechanism overlies the ramp  120  as is best illustrated in FIG. 4B. The two housing halves  178  and  180  are secured together by suitable conventional fasteners  182  as illustrated in FIG. 5. Rotation of an output shaft of the motor is transformed into a reciprocating movement of the arm  166  in order to move the separator plate  168  back and forth. With reference again to FIG. 4A, the plate, in turn, strips coins, one at a time, from a stack of coins held in the opening  176  and pushes them off a base wall  183  of the second housing half  180  and onto the upper end  122  of the ramp  120 . The arm  166  reciprocates as the motor  162  drives the gear train  164 . The motor  162  is selectively actuated by depressing a button  184  (FIG. 3) located on the top wall  102 . When the button is depressed, such as by contact with a hand of a user, electrical power from a battery (not illustrated) located in the main case  16  is applied to the motor to operate same.  
         [0039]    With reference again to FIG. 2B, coins, as at  186 , can be removed individually from the coin compartment  70  by the use of conventional slides  190 ,  192 ,  194 , and  196 . Thus if the cash box is used to make change, a desired slide can be moved forward, against the resistance of a spring (not illustrated) if so desired, so as to singly retrieve e.g. dimes, pennies, nickels, or quarters as desired. Each slide  190 - 196  is conventional and simply controls the ability of coins one at a time to drop in their respective chambers  72 - 78 . However, when it is desired to retrieve the coins as a stack, the front wall  84  is simply pivoted downwardly. As mentioned, the inner surface of the front wall is contoured so as to form the front portion of each of the respective coin chambers  72 - 78 . The use of a transparent front wall  84  is advantageous from the standpoint that a user of the cash box can readily observe the column of coins held in each of the chambers. If desired, an outer surface of the front wall  84  can be provided with markings  198  (FIG. 2A) to indicate the number of coins, or the total amount of coinage, held in each of the chambers  72 - 78 . Overflow slots  199  can be provided on the front wall  84  defining each of the coin chambers  72 - 78 . The slots enable excess coins  186  to drop into trays  201  located below the coin chambers. The slides  190 - 196  each have an upper face  206  provided with an angled rib  208  to urge the coins  186  to slide in one side direction and fall into the correct tray  201 . While only four coin chambers are illustrated, it should be apparent that five or six coin chambers could also be used if it were desired, for example, to sort half dollar and/or dollar coins.  
         [0040]    While in the preferred embodiment, the door  12  is shown as accommodating the bill compartment  32  and the main case  16  is shown as accommodating the coin compartment  70 , it should be appreciated that both compartments could be located in the main case, or that some portion of the bill storage function could be preformed in the main case. Alternatively, the bill compartment and coin compartment locations could be reversed so that the bill compartment is in the main case with the coin compartment being located in the door. Also, while the main case  16  is shown as being vertically oriented in use while the door is horizontally oriented, it should be appreciated that a horizontal orientation of the main case  16  is also feasible so that the main compartment is oriented in the plane of the door  12  while the cash box is in use, instead of being oriented perpendicular thereto as shown in FIG. 2. Moreover, while the construction illustrated in the Figures has the housing  10  comprising two major components, namely the door  12  and the main case  16  (along with a more minor component namely, the lid  14 ), any number of components could be employed to form the entire cash box housing.  
         [0041]    While the coin sorting assembly  114  is illustrated in the Figures as being supported within the housing base portion  12 , it should be appreciated that the coin sorter mechanism could be supported by the housing but located outside of the housing, if so desired. While in the preferred embodiment the front wall  84  and back wall cooperate to define the substantially cylindrical chamber  72 - 78 , it should be appreciated that other means for defining such substantially cylindrical chambers could also be employed. It should be appreciated that a removable tray for currency, such as the tray  36 , is not necessary to the invention as the extension tray sections  46  and  58  could be simply hingedly mounted to the door  12  if desired. In addition, while hinged mounting of the currency tray wings is illustrated for the tray sections  46  and  58 , it should be appreciated that other means of mounting such tray sections, whether to the door  12  or to the removable currency tray  36  could also be employed.  
         [0042]    While in the preferred embodiment, a currency compartment  32 , including a removable currency tray  36  is illustrated, it should be appreciated that an auxiliary storage compartment could be substituted therefor. More particularly, the auxiliary storage compartment, which could be located on either the door or the base, could accommodate writing instruments, markers, pins, index cards, or other items which may be useful in e.g., conducting a garage sale or in running a charitable bingo game or the like. For example, if the portable cash box were employed in a charitable “Las Vegas night” event, the cash box could accommodate poker chips or the like in addition to change and/or currency.  
         [0043]    The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon the reading and understanding of this specification. It is intended to include all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.