Patent GB-190406862-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Cash Carrier Apparatus.
Inventor: MACKENZIE JOHN WILLIAM
Filed: 1904-03-21
Granted: 1904-06-30
Abstract: 6862. Mackenzie, J. W., [Independent Store Service Co.]. March 21. Mechanical despatch apparatus.-The cash boxes are carried by means of an endless travelling cord C, Fig. 1, running through longitudinallyslotted tubes A, A<2> and over or under pulleys or wheels B. Each box consists of an elliptical metal casing D, Figs. 16 and 22, about twice as long as it is broad, having a thin neck a and a head b provided with a longitudinal groove c, into which the cord passes. The cord may have projections b<3>, Fig. 16, engaging with a projection b<2> on the inside of the head, or the trough in the head may be bent in the centre, so as to grip the cord. The body has two bent-in portions 59, Fig. 22, forming supports for the lid when closed, and a central bent-in portion 51 with a turned-down margin 55 forming a socket for the spring catch 56 of the lid. The latter is carried on a rod 52, which is held within parallel slots 50 in the box casing and is slid backward, and forwards to open or close the box. Fig. 14 shows the method of introducing one of the boxes with an overhead tube by means of a rod u, hinged to the member t, which normally rests horizontally within easy reach on a bracket t<4>, and is provided with a top fork v and a curved piece v<3> to hold the box. The tube is formed with an opening s having opposite guiding-lips s<2>, Fig. 15. When returned from the office through the second tube, the box passes out through an opening and down a guide. When the cord has to change its direction, special wheels are used, those represented in Fig. 1 being for what is known as an upper "plumb" corner. The wheel B is for the cord C when passing upwards. It consists of a hub having spokes to which are attached an annular plate i<2> and a rim f grooved as shown. A second similar annular plate i is arranged at some distance from the first. Between these two plates passes the box casing D. One edge of the slots e in the tubes is connected by a guard piece E, which is curved as shown and causes the head b of the box to be deflected to the side of the groove in the wheel. The other edge of the slots is continued by short and approximately-straight metallic sections A<1>, A<3> parallel with the guard strip E, the former of which is provided with a spring directing-finger m for the cord. To steady and direct the box before it reaches the wheel, a flat spring 16 is supported alongside the guard strip. The wheel for the return cord is similarly constructed. In this form, the box hangs downwards from the cord, but, in a modification, in which the cord passes beneath the wheel, the box may be caused to project horizontally when passing around a wheel. This is done by means of a partially rotatable section of horizontal tube and a cam-shaped guide for the box. The guide raises the box upwards and outwards, and the tube turns round with it, so that finally its slot is half-way up on the outer side of the tube and is in alignment with the upper edge of a curved strip, which is parallel to the wheel rim and is continuous with a side slot in the vertical tube ; or, instead of a rotary section, a fixed section having a widened grooved may be used. In another form of a lower plumb wheel, Fig. 5, one edge of the slot in each tube is connected together by a similarly-curved guide-piece E<2> lying along the rim of the wheel B<2>, while opposite it is a flange f <30> of the wheel. In this case, the box projects always radially outwards. A central rib k may be used to force the cord into the trough c of the box head. In a modification of an upper plumb wheel, the cord travels from a horizontal tube over the wheel, which is an ordinary grooved wheel, to a lower vertical tube, while the box is disconnected on reaching the wheel, and runs downwards through a slotted connecting tubular portion arranged below the axle of the wheel, entering the lower vertical tube beneath the wheel, and automatically connecting with the travelling cord. At the receiving or office end of the tubes, the cord passes out through an opening in the sending- tube, round skew pulleys, and then through an opening into the return tube. The box in the sending-tube becomes detached from the cord, and travels onwards to a receiving-receptacle or to the open end of the tube. It is returned by placing it into the open end of the return tube, when it becomes again connected to the cord on reaching the latter.