Patent GB-884652-A (GB)
Abstract: 884,652. Parking meters. UNITED GAS INDUSTRIES Ltd. June 30, 1959 [March 30, 1958], No. 33944/57. Class 27. A parking meter comprises an indicator dial 28 under the timed control of a main spring and a coin holder 49 held against rotation until an inserted coin releases it to perform a complete rotation under the power of the main spring, the coin holder then being coupled to the dial so that the latter is adjusted to a time setting according to the denomination of the inserted coin. The main spring is wound by a key inserted through a hole 31 and through a chain of gears and an escapement mechanism drives a hollow shaft 46 connected by a pawl and ratchet drive to a dial shaft 54 and through another chain of gears drives a spindle 48 within the shaft 46 and carrying the coin-holder 49. Setting.-Insertion of a sixpence 105 in a slot 30 pushes in a tongue 84, Fig. 24 and slide 85 against the thrust of a spring-loaded arm 149 and at the same time caliper jaws 134, 144 are spread to move catches 153, 135 clear of abutments 124, 126 and to bring the leg 147 of a saddle 142 on the caliper 144 behind the widest part of a head 138 on the caliper 134. A snout 152 on the slide 85 engages a face 151 on the caliper 134 and moves it and also, through the engagement 138, 147, the caliper 144. The caliper is pivoted at 148 on an actuator plate 127 and the plate is moved so that a pin 87 carried by it moves inwardly a bar 90, Fig. 11, to free it from a slot 94 in a cam plate 93 and to set it so that a pin 96 can engage a ledge 95 on a spider 76 connecting the dial 28 to the shaft 54. The bar 90 also carries a catch piece 98 and the spider carries two or more teeth on an interchangeable comb 97. The sixpence is carried round by the released coin holder 49 and bears against an arcuate guideway 99 while the position of the bar 90 is controlled by the surface 165 on the cam plate 93. When the bar 90 reaches a step 106 in the cam plate, it moves outwards to release the pin 96 from the ledge 95 and break the driving connection to the dial. At this point, the offence marking 59 and the excess-charge portion 57, Fig. 2, have moved past the window 29 and the zero of the purchased-time scale is opposite a stationary pointer 36. The dial remains stationary until the bar 90 moves down a step 108 to bring the catch piece 98 into engagement with a tooth of the comb 97 near the leading end and the dial is then driven to bring the 1-hour marking opposite the pointer, at which point the bar 90 moves down stop 113 to disengage the catch piece and allow the coin holder to rotate to initial position and engage the bar 90 in the slot 94. Meanwhile the coin has been discharged from the end of the guideway 99. If a second sixpence is inserted immediately after the first, the coin holder is driven round without effect until the bar 90 moves down the step 108 and engages the catch piece with the comb at its trailing end, so moving the dial to bring the 2-hour marking opposite the pointer. When a shilling is inserted, the slide 85 and bar 90 are moved across to a greater extent and the steps 106, 108 have no control but when the coin reaches a step 100 on the guideway 99, the bar moves outwardly to engage catch piece 98 with the comb near its trailing end and the dial is set with the 2-hour marking opposite the pointer. As the drive ceases when the step 113 is reached, insertion of a sixpence or shilling after the lapse of some of the purchased time will not move the 2-hour marking beyond the pointer but if more than two teeth are provided on the comb and less than one hour of purchased time remains the catch piece can pick up an intermediate tooth and add an hour of purchased time to the time remaining. Timing.-Immediately the coin holder 49 and the spider 76 begin to rotate, a brake arm is released from the timing escapement and in so doing rotates the balance wheel to ensure that timing train commences working without delay. The dial is returned from the set position under the timed control of the escapement and through the pawl and ratchet drive. There is a blank 55, Fig. 7,between the timepurchased scale 56 and the excess-charge scale 57 and a similar blank 58 between the scale 57 and the offence marking 59 and the dial is arranged to jump these blanks by an arm 60 having a pawl 61. During efflux of the purchased time, the pawl engages a step 66 on a sector plate 65 carried by the ratchet wheel but, when the purchased time has elapsed, the pawl is disengaged by an adjustable cam bar 70 and released from step 66 so that a spring 71 rapidly moves the dial by the angular distance between the step 66 and a second step 67, which is selected to be the angular distance of the blank 55. When the excesscharge period has been timed out, a cam bar 69 releases the pawl from the step 67 and the dial is rapidly moved to bring the offence marking fully into view. At this point, the brake is applied to the escapement mechanism. Preventing fraudulent operation; exhibiting coins.-The actuator plate cannot be operated if a thin tool is inserted between the caliper jaws as it will not spread both jaws at once to make the connection 138, 147 and release the catches 135, 153. To prevent operation of the meter by inserting a coin to release the bar 90 from the slot 94 and then withdrawing it, the bar may have an ear which, on withdrawal of the coin and outward movement of the bar, passes into an arcuate slot which holds the bar from co-operation with the cam plate 93 and does not allow the time-setting operations to be performed. The last two coins inserted into the meter are held by arms 111 and 119 of a lever 112 and are visible through windows 34, 35. The lever is operated to release the lower coin to a coin box and transfer the upper coin to the lower arm by a pin 117 which may be carried by the coin holder 49 or by the actuator plate 127; in the latter case, the lever 112 may have a cranked portion through which the pin 117 can pass without effect if a coin is inserted and then rapidly withdrawn. To prevent the caliper 144 and actuator plate 127 being moved by a coin intermediate in size between a sixpence and a shilling, a gate 165, Fig. 34, having a slot 170 may be pivoted on the caliper and a prong 171 can pass between blocks 172, 173 defining the slot if an inserted sixpence is within maximum and minimum permissible diameters but a sixpence outside these limits will cause block 172 or 173 to engage the prong and prevent full movement of the plate. If a shilling is inserted, the block 173 lies below the prong and full movement is permitted.