Patent GB-273728-A (GB)
IPC: G06M7/06
Filed: 1927-06-29
Abstract: 273,728. federal Bill Counter Co., (Assignees of Lard, A. E.). June 29, 1926, [Convention date]. Counters for articles; stop-mechanism. - A device for facilitating the sorting and packetting of bills, paper money, transfers, &c. comprises feed rolls which are automatically stopped when a predetermined number of bills have been fed, directly from the feed rolls, into any one of a rumber of compartments for receiving bills, manually operable means for releasing the stopping mechanism, manually operable starting means, such as an electric switch with two onpositions adapted to put the machine in operation with the counting mechanism inoperative for testing and adjusting, or in operation with the counting mechanism operative in the normal working condition, and means for ensuring delivery from the feed rolls to the compartments of bills without bends or folds. Bills are handfed over trays 16 to upper compartments 6 of a cabinet through feed rolls 18, 19. To give rigidity to the bills, the lower rolls 18 are preferably formed in sections 18, 18<a>, Fig. 3. rigidly attached to a shaft 17 the centre section 18<a> being cylindrical, and the end sections 18b, frustoconical, in shape. The lower rolls are driven from a motor 20, Fig. 15, the upper rolls being driven by contact from the lower rolls. A friction clutch is interposed between the motor and the shaft 17, and comprises a flanged sleeve 24, Fig. 13, floating on the shaft 17 and screwed to a pulley 23. A spring 30 normally maintains the flange of the sleeve 24 in driving engagement with balls carried in a housing on the shaft 17. A bar 32 extending across the front of the machine carries yokes 34, Fig. 7, in which are pivotally secured blocks 36 having arms 36<b> to carry the feed rolls 19. A pin 40 rests in an insulated cup 39 on the block 36, and a rock-arm 42 on a shaft 43 carries an adjustable screw 41 which bears on the head of the pin 40. The adjustment allows play for the pin 40 between its upper and lower seats so that the roller 19 can be lifted the thickness of one bill 'without turning the shaft 43, but if two superposed bills are fed to the rolls, the pin 40 will be lifted to turn the shaft 43 and actuate brake mechanism to stop the rolls. A lever formed of linked members 46, 47, Fig. 3, is secured to the end of the shaft 43, the member 46 having a counterweight 46<a>. A spring 48 - maintains engagement between the ends of the members 46, 47. When the shaft 43 is turned, the lever 46-47 is lifted to close an electric circuit through a contact 49 on the members 47 and a contact 50 and energize an electromagnet 51. A brake lever 53 having a shoe 54 to engage a grooved brake drum 55 is normally maintained in the off-position, by a spring 56, against a stop 57, and the electromagnet 51, when energized, draws down the lever 53 to apply the brake and stop the rotation of the shaft 17. To release the brake, the operator presses a key 59 carried on the counterweight 46<a>, thus further raising the lever 46-47 to relieve pressure on the roll 19 and allow the withdrawal of the superposed bills. The movement of the lever 46-47 also causes the lever 47 to pivot on a stop 58 to disengage the contacts 49, 50 and de-energize the magnet 51. The brake lever 53 is then lifted by a lug 46<c> on the lever 46 which engages a screw 53b on the brake lever. 'The feed rolls then resume rotation. If desired, the driving motor 20 may be stopped at the same time as the feed rolls, a contact 53<c> on the brake which normally engages a contact 53d to complete the motor circuit, being disengaged when the brake moves downwards. To ensure proper stacking of the bills in the compartments 6, flaps 60 are adapted to swing upwardly to support the forward portion of a bill as it passes the rolls. The flaps 60 return to the vertical as the bill leaves the rolls, and the bill falls into the compartment 6 to rest on flaps 5. The flaps 60 of each compartment are operatively connected by a link 128, Fig. 15, and one flap of each pair is formed with a cranked member 124 which passes under a pin 125 on a solenoid armature 69, a spring 70 normally maintaining contact between the pin 125 and the member 124. When the solenoid 68 is energized, the armature 69 moves the flaps to the vertical position, and the separation of the rolls 18, 19, each time a bill is fed, breaks the circuit through the solenoid to swing the flaps upwardly under the action of a spring. Each compartment has an electrically actuated counter 71, a grand total counter 72 being mounted on the upper right-hand side of the machine. Each actuation of the solenoid 68 breaks the counter circuit between the armature 74 and a contact 76<a>. The counters 71 are operated by electromagnets which drive numeral wheels. A disc 84, Fig. 10, on the tens-wheel has a cam 84<a> which, on the complete rotation of the disc 84, engages the end of a rod 85 to close an electric circuit through contacts 86<a>, 90 to energize the electromagnet 51 and stop the rotation of the feed rolls. To mark off the separate bills, the operator then places a cardboard slip over the bills in the compartment 6 before feeding further bills. To restart the rolls, the operator actuates a rod 87, carried in ears 88 on the counter, to compress a spring and disengage the rod 85 from the cam 84<a> and separate the contacts 86<a>, 90. When the counter is further actuated, the spring moves the rod 85 to the normal position. In a modified construction, the cam projection moves a contact ,carried by a resilient member into engagement with a fixed contact to complete the electric circuit. Means for cleaning the peripheries of the feed rolls comprise a sleeve 97 carried on a spring 98 and pressed against steel wool 99 engaging the roll 19. Steel wool is carried in a pivoted cup 100 to clean the centre part 18<a> of the roll 18. To ensure the flow of current between the rolls when no bill is passing, a yielding contact carried by the block 36 engages the roll 18, and is displaced temporarily by the passage of a bill. In a modified construction, the rolls 18, 19 do not form part of the electric circuit, a two-part lever connected to the upper roll being moved by a bill passing between the rolls to close the circuit to the counter. To equalize the air pressure on a falling bill, the open end of each compartment 6 is closed by a pivoted glass panel of less width than the compartment. Air holes 2a are also formed in the compartment walls. The compartments 6 are separated from lower compartments 7 by flaps 5, Fig. 3, normally held in the horizontal position by hand-operated catches which may be released to allow bills to fall from the compartments 6 to the compartments 7. A pivoted sectional cover 109, 109<a>, may be swung upwardly to close the compartments 6, 7, a plate 111 on the cover passing beneath a pair of the flaps 5 to lock them. A cabinet 112 is carried on a standard 114, and is adapted to face either towards the rolls 18, 19 or a table 121. The bills to be sorted are placed in the cabinet, and, when the bills have been sorted, to apply the strapping to the sorted bills, the cabinet, with the sorted bills placed therein, is faced towards the table 121, so that the operator can remove the bills, divided into hundreds by the cardboards, to the table 121. The straps are then taken from a file spindle 122. A sponge-cup 123 for moistening the fingers is carried on the front of the machine.